Interview, Part 2: Constellation Wine & Spirits Chief Sam Glaetzer
June 25, 2025In the second part of our interview, Sam Glaetzer, president of Constellation’s wine and spirits division, discusses market conditions, the on-premise scene, the direct-to-consumer segment, tariffs, and other challenges and opportunities ahead for the 5.5-million-case portfolio. SND: What’s your take on the current conditions?
Glaetzer: When it’s tough, you’ve got to get back to the basics and focus on the pockets of growth and opportunity. As we look at what our business has now become with the portfolio we retain, we believe it’s pointed nicely at those opportunities, and toward a consumer who’s not buying as much but is choosing to spend when they do. That fits nicely to how we’re thinking about putting the business forward.
SND: How is the on-premise faring?
Glaetzer: We’ve made a lot of changes in the way we think about the on-premise, the way we think about allocations. It’s specific cities, and within cities specific accounts, as opposed to selling everything to everybody.
I’m hearing anecdotally that restaurants are seeing people spend up to $80 for a bottle of wine but not higher, and often go by the glass. That’s a real change for some of these restaurants and for us too. Maybe then the focus on-premise is $100 or less and then you’ve got to have your memberships and other ways to sell the more expensive wine. And of course it varies somewhat according to the brand.
SND: What are you seeing in the DTC market?
Glaetzer: It’s been difficult. Napa has been down across the board, but we’re seeing some promising signs coming into this summer. I think we had over 300 visitors here at The Prisoner only a couple of weekends ago on a Saturday, which is a big number. But what we’re also finding out is they’re not spending as much as perhaps they did some years ago. So we have to pivot and think about how do you get them to come and have a great experience and become a brand advocate, without the expectation of five or 10 years ago where they were buying up a lot of wine each time they came in? That’s the way we’re thinking about Mondavi when it opens back up, and the way we think about Paso Robles and also Lingua Franca, where we’ve just invested in some hospitality.
SND: How are you approaching the tariff situation?
Glaetzer: The team have looked at five to 10 different scenarios and behind that there’s a plan if any of them get enacted or last for more than 24 hours. We’re mindful of what our competitive price is out in the marketplace. Our consumers and customers are feeling the pinch, so we’re being mindful of that.
SND: What other challenges are you keeping an eye on?
Glaetzer: The legal drinking age and up of the younger generation, I don’t think they’ve ever drunk a lot of wine. What I’m keeping an eye on is once they get to age 30 or so, are they then experiencing and enjoying wine. I think you’ve seen a real change to the way that they socialize, with a lot of it online. But there’s actually more people drinking wine in that age 30 group. They’re just drinking less. One thing we’re mindful of is that we have to be careful of how we turn up on-premise. If wine by the glass is $25, people will be picking cocktails or something else.
Tagged : Constellation Brands, The Prisoner
