News Briefs for August 21, 2020
August 21, 2020•Tanqueray is entering the booming canned cocktail segment. The Diageo-owned brand’s new Crafted Gin Cocktails include a Gin & Tonic, Rangpur Lime Gin & Soda, and Sevilla Orange Gin & Soda, all at 6% abv and retailing at $15 a 4-pack of 12-ounce cans. The new range is debuting next month in Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Illinois, Ohio, and Washington. Tanqueray, the largest gin brand in the U.S. in the $20 and over tier, was roughly flat at just under 1.4 million cases last year, according to Impact Databank.
•Drizly has raised $50 million to fund its ongoing expansion as consumers continue to flock to the e-commerce segment. The series C funding round comes as Drizly has seen exponential growth for its beverage alcohol delivery platform, which now numbers 3,300 independent and chain store doors across 235 markets. Drizly says it now expects 20% of off-premise alcohol purchases to be transacted online within the next five years, as compared to less than two percent in early 2020. The new funding will support both Drizly’s beverage alcohol business as well as Lantern, its independently operating cannabis platform, which has rolled out in Massachusetts and Michigan. Drizly is minority-owned by the WSWA.
•Livingston, New Jersey-based Now Wine Imports has added Portuguese winery Quinta de Ameal to its portfolio, effective immediately. Located in the Vinho Verde DOC, Quinta de Ameal is known for its white wines, among them Bico Ameal ($12 a 750-ml.) a blend of Loureiro, Alvarinho, and Avesso; Ameal Loureiro ($18); Ameal Solo Unico ($28); and Ameal Escolha ($40). The latter three wines are all unique iterations of the Loureiro varietal. Quinta de Ameal is owned by Portuguese company Esporão, which also owns Now Wine Imports.
•Beam Suntory has released the latest batch of Little Book Bourbon, Chapter Four: Lessons Honored. The whiskey is bottled at 61.4% abv and is a blend of three whiskies aged for at least four years: a 4-year-old Bourbon with brown rice in the mash bill, an 8-year-old high rye Bourbon, and a 7-year-old Bourbon made from a more traditional mash bill. Little Book Chapter Four: Lessons Honored is now available across the U.S. in limited quantities for around $125 a 750-ml.
•California’s Shannon Ridge has acquired fellow Lake County producer Steele Wines for an undisclosed sum. The deal includes Steele’s Lake County winery facilities and brands including Shooting Star, Stymie, and Writer’s Block. Shannon Ridge founder and president Clay Shannon said the deal boosts his company’s production capacity—allowing it to expand on its current 310,000-case production—while creating a new visitor experience called Shannon Mercantile at the Steele tasting room in Kelseyville.
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