News Briefs for July 31, 2025
August 1, 2025
- Diageo has appointed company veteran Deirdre Mahlan as interim CFO, effective August 18, replacing Nik Jhangiani, who became interim CEO earlier this month upon the departure of former chief executive Debra Crew. Mahlan spent 27 years with Diageo, including as global CFO and head of the North America business. Most recently, she was CEO of The Duckhorn Portfolio, departing last year as the California winemaker sold to Los Angeles private equity firm Butterfly for just under $2 billion. As interim CFO at Diageo, she will help guide the company’s previously announced Accelerate cost savings initiative, aimed at saving $500 million across its business, “supported by appropriate and selective disposals over the coming years.”
- Delicato Family Wines’ Gnarly Head has released two new wines celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead. The wines—an Old Vine Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon—both retail for $12 and show off the band’s iconography on their labels. The Zin is sourced from 35- to 85-year-old vines and is from the 2023 vintage, while the Cab is from 2024. Both wines will be available across the U.S. Last year, Gnarly Head was at 180,000 cases in the U.S., according to Impact Databank.
- North Carolina’s Oaklore Distilling Co. has expanded statewide through Johnson Brothers of North Carolina. The move will see Oaklore’s portfolio—include its flagship Bourbon and 6-year-old rye and the distillery’s limited editions—gain new footholds in the on- and off-premise as part of Oaklore’s regional distribution strategy and ambitions for wider availability. Johnson Brothers is among the leading distributors in the U.S. with projected 2025 revenues of above $3 billion, according to Shanken’s Impact Newsletter.
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