News Briefs for November 8, 2016

•MGP Ingredients has acquired the George Remus whiskey brand from Cincinnati-based Queen City Whiskey for an undisclosed sum. Including Bourbon and rye whiskies, George Remus is currently present in the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana markets. The brand’s namesake was a legendary bootlegger who owned distilleries and warehouses in the Cincinnati area, including in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where MGP’s flagship distillery is based. The George Remus whiskies have been sourced from MGP since the brand’s founding in 2013. Primarily known as a supplier of distilled spirits for other marketers, MGP recently has begun building its own brand stable. In addition to George Remus, its lineup includes Till American Wheat vodka and limited-edition Indiana Bourbon Metze’s Select.

•Bordeaux’s Tribunal convicted eight people on November 3 in a case of massive wine fraud and handed down harsh sentences. François-Marie Marret, owner of 20 châteaus across the Bordeaux region, received a two-year prison sentence and fines of $8.7 million. The judge ordered the destruction of more than 8,000 hectoliters—1.1 million bottles worth—of illicit wine that had been seized by French customs. Marret’s estates that were implicated in the fraud, which took place from at least 2011 to 2012, are Château Le Couvent in St.-Emilion, Château Moulin à Vent in Lalande-de-Pomerol and Château Fourcas-Loubaney in Listrac-Médoc. Wine Spectator has the full story.

•Dan Zepponi has been named president and CEO of Napa’s Cuvaison Estate Wines. He replaces Jay Schuppert, who’s retiring after nearly 15 years at Cuvaison’s helm. Zepponi has been a wine industry executive for many years. Most recently he ran Vintage Strategies, a Napa-based consultancy firm. Previously, he was president of West Coast Wine Partners in Sonoma, while also holding senior posts with the former Beringer/Foster’s Wine Estates (currently Treasury Wine Estates). Founded in 1969, Cuvaison has been owned by Switzerland’s Schmidheiny family since 1979.

Tagged : Bordeaux, MGP Ingredients

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