News Briefs for December 5, 2014
December 5, 2014•Palm Bay International has partnered with Scotland’s Wemyss Malts to import the craft distiller’s whisky and gin offerings in the U.S. Under the deal, Palm Bay will handle Wemyss’ core blended malt range, which includes its Peat Chimney, The Hive and Spice King entries ($45.99-$74 a 750-ml.), as well as eight single malt labels, including Picnic In The Park ($115), A Day at the Coast ($115), Smoke on the Rocks ($135), Winter Larder ($135), Matter of Smoke ($138), Beachcomber ($138), The Dunes ($189) and Heathery Smoke ($249). Additionally, Palm Bay will import Wemyss’ Darnley’s View London Dry Gin, which is made with six botanicals and retails for $32.99. The full Wemyss malt lineup will be available across eight markets, while Darnley’s View will have a 14-market reach.
•San Francisco-based importer Maritime Wine Trading Collective has launched Message in a Bottle—the latest wine from musician Sting and his wife Trudie Styler—in the U.S. Making its debut with a 2011 vintage, Message in a Bottle is a Tuscan red, created in collaboration with viticulturist Dan O’Donnell, winemaker Paolo Caciorgna and Maritime Wine Trading Collective CEO Christopher Nickolopoulos. The new entry is priced at $19.99 a 750-ml. and joins the celebrity couple’s Casino Delle Vie, When We Dance and Sister Moon wine labels. Part of Bacchus Capital Management’s company portfolio, Maritime Wine Trading Collective also markets the Graham Beck, Jules Taylor, La Piuma, Kayra and Quinta Nova brands, among others.
•Indiana business groups and retailers have formed a new coalition supporting the legalization of Sunday alcohol sales across the state’s grocery, drugstore, liquor store and convenience store channels. Members of the coalition—known as Hoosiers for Sunday Sales—include the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce, the Indiana Retail Council, Walmart, The Kroger Co., Marsh Supermarkets, Jewel/Osco, the Wine Institute and the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., among others. Hoosiers for Sunday Sales has kicked off its efforts with a new campaign, claiming the current sales ban results in millions in lost tax revenue for the state, and that recent polls indicate that a majority of Indiana consumers (52%) support an expansion of Sunday alcohol sales. New Sunday sales legislation, however, has long been opposed by the state’s social and religious leaders, as well as Indiana’s independent liquor store owners, who argue that the move would give national grocery chains an unfair competitive advantage.
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