California’s Demeine Estates Up Double-Digits In Tough Market

While the wine market overall continues to be soft, driven by declines at the lower end, California luxury importer and marketer Demeine Estates tells SND its depletions are up 16% and distribution is up 15% through nine months of the year, with the company projecting total volume of 100,000 cases for calendar 2025. Demeine’s portfolio averages $49 a bottle at retail.

Demeine’s stable is led by Lawrence Family Estates wines like Heitz Cellar, Burgess, and Ink Grade, but the company has also been active in imports, with offerings like Villa Sandi, La Chablisienne, and Champagne Philipponnat driving gains. The company has introduced six new brands to the range in the past year and a half, including Lawrence-owned Château Lascombes from Bordeaux, as well as Italy’s Boscarelli.

“Our wines are finding their way onto more restaurant lists and into more retail shops, and that’s due to early investments into expanding our sales teams, in addition to our creative brand marketing,” Demeine president Philana Bouvier told SND. “We’re experiencing significant growth across both channels, with the strongest momentum in restaurants and hotels.” Demeine’s sales are up 33% on-premise so far this year, she added, with retail gains at 21%.

Most recently, Demeine has launched Trailside Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. Retailing at $225, the new wine is a collaboration between Lawrence Wine Estates CEO Carlton McCoy, Jr. and Jeremy Seysses, co-owner and winemaker at Burgundy’s Domaine Dujac. Trailside Vineyard is located on Rutherford’s east side, north of Beckstoffer’s Georges III.

Recent weeks have also seen the debut of La Cote Lascombes ($199), a 100% Merlot bottling that marks the first new offering from the second-growth Bordeaux estate since former Ornellaia winemaker Axel Heinz joined Lascombes as CEO in 2023. Heinz helped build Italy’s Masseto, another Merlot-based wine, into one of Italy’s most revered bottlings.

Bouvier said “modest adjustments” to pricing strategy have played a role in Demeine’s growth this year, but that the overall mission of the company—delivering about 15% growth annually with a sharp focus on routing family-owned brands to the best accounts—has remained constant.

“We set out to identify and recruit winery gems that had untapped potential in their prior partnerships,” added Scott Diaz, Demeine’s SVP of global brand strategy and marketing. “Our vision has been to represent brands in categories that remain in demand, even during the most challenging times.”—Daniel Marsteller

Tagged : Demeine Estates, Lascombes

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