Luxury Labels Driving Growth For Wilson Daniels

With a portfolio including Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Domaine Leflaive, Biondi-Santi, and Gaja, among many others, Wilson Daniels is focused firmly on the fine wine segment. Revenue will be north of $250 million this year across the company’s national import and wholesale businesses, with the volume of its national portfolio totaling about 700,000 cases. SND executive editor Daniel Marsteller spoke with Wilson Daniels president Rocco Lombardo for an update.

SND: Where are you seeing growth in your national portfolio?

Lombardo: It is definitely the ultra-premium luxury sector for us. Burgundy remains dynamic, as do Barolo and Barbaresco. Bolgheri is definitely happening for us. We have Ca’Marcanda there with the Gaja family, and also Sette Cieli, both doing very, very well. Between Prosecco and Prosecco Superiore we’ll deplete more than 130,000 cases from the Bisol family this year. Cremant d’Alsace has been extremely dynamic, with a strong growth trajectory. We’ll sell nearly 30,000 cases of Crémant Brut and Rosé from Pierre Sparr. The other area where we’re seeing vibrancy is in Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. The brand is called Frenzy, and it’s up 50% year over year and approaching 50,000 cases.

SND: How’s business in Champagne and California sparkling?

Lombardo: Our Champagne business with Gosset remains solid, not seeing declines, but not seeing growth, hovering between 11,000 and 12,000 cases. That’s pretty much our allocation. In California with Schramsberg, even considering the pressure on the super-premium sparkling category—which has been down more than 10%—we’re holding steady at right around 80,000 cases with Schramsberg and Mirabelle. We’re seeing growth with Mirabelle but Schramsberg is flat.

SND: Which categories are having a tougher time?

Lombardo: We’re seeing pressure in the rosé category without a doubt, where we were right around 47,000 cases with Peyrassol. The good news is we’re flat over the past three months, compared with down 2% in the past 12 months.

SND: How is the on-premise market for fine wine faring?

Lombardo: On-premise represents 63% of depletions for our national business, and it’s still growing. The market trends have become more and more negative, and so there’s continued pressure. Fortunately for us, our on-premise business remains solid. We are seeing growth of around 5% to 6%. Our depletions nationally are up 6.8% this year through October. But we’re starting to see the stress in our business. If you look at rolling six-month trends we’re up 5%, but in three-month trends we’re up 3%, so growth is tapering off. Still, our business continues to grow and we have that to be thankful for.

Tagged : Bisol, Ca'Marcanda, Frenzy, Gaja, Gosset, Mirabelle, Peyrassol, Schramsberg, Wilson Daniels

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