News Briefs for September 14, 2011
September 14, 2011• Diageo’s Tequila Don Julio will roll out a new addition to its portfolio—Tequila Don Julio 70—in the U.S. starting this fall. An “Anejo Claro” Tequila, combining traditional Anejo flavors from 18-month barrel-aged spirit with unaged Blanco Tequila, Don Julio 70 is being released to mark the company’s 70th anniversary. Priced at $70 a 750-ml., the product will only be available in select retailers across the country. The Don Julio line already includes Tequila Don Julio Blanco, Tequila Don Julio Reposado, Tequila Don Julio Anejo, Tequila Don Julio 1942 and Tequila Don Julio Real.
• Symington Family Estates has relaunched Cockburn’s Port with a new formula and bottle redesign in an effort to return the brand to “the hallmark of its heyday.” According to Symington, more fruit flavor and an improved structure have been added to the wine’s signature full-bodied, dry style. The new bottle, meanwhile, was designed by London-based agency Bloom and features a slender shape and long neck inspired by Cockburn’s original bottle design of the 1970s. In addition to its core Cockburn’s Special Reserve label, the Cockburn’s range includes Late Bottled Vintage, 10- and 20-Year-Old Tawny, Quinta dos Canais, Vintage Port and Ruby, Tawny and White. Symington, which also owns the Dow’s, Graham’s and Warre’s Port brands, bought Cockburn’s from Beam Global roughly a year ago for an undisclosed sum.
• Irvine, California-based Spectrum Wine Auctions is set to partner with London wine dealer Vanquish Wine Ltd., starting with an auction of fine wines from around the world scheduled for February 2012 in London. A date will be announced by year-end, and consignment for the first auction will take place up until December 1, 2011. Richard Brierley, head of the Fine Wine division at Vanquish, said he wants to bring the enthusiasm that exists at auctions in New York and Los Angeles to the more established auction scene in London. Spectrum opened in 2009 and has since held live auctions in New York and Hong Kong, bringing in over $30 million so far.
• Inglenook owner Francis Ford Coppola will be auctioning off rare vintages from his private collection at an upcoming Christie’s auction, to be held September 24 in New York. Notable offerings include a bottle from Inglenook’s 1935 “Golden Era” vintage, estimated to be worth $600-$800, and a two-bottle lot of 1941 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon, valued at $8,000-$12,000. Coppola originally purchased Napa’s Inglenook estate in 1975, but only recently acquired rights to the Inglenook brand and trademark from The Wine Group last April, for an undisclosed amount.
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