News Briefs for September 30, 2021

•Minnesota-based Prestige Beverage Group has expanded its Astoria wine brand from Italy with a Prosecco Rosé D.O.C. Retailing at $15 a 750-ml., the new rosé joins Prosecco D.O.C., Spago Prosecco D.O.C., “Alisia” Pinot Grigio D.O.C., “Caranto” Pinot Noir, “Icona” Cabernet Sauvignon, Primo Rosso, Sparkling Moscato, and Sparkling Moscato Rosé in the Astoria portfolio. Prestige Beverage Group’s brand stable also includes Windsor Canadian, Kinky Beverages, Risata Wines, Joia Spirit and Indoggo gin, among others.

•Bidders seemed undeterred by the pandemic as Hart Davis Hart Wine Co. (HDH) staged one of the biggest wine auctions in its history late last week, with prices of top-shelf Burgundies soaring to new heights. The Chicago-based auction house reported gross sales of $19 million from the auction—well beyond its pre-sale high estimate of $14.8 million for the 3,006 lots on offer. Records were established for numerous vintages of Romanee-Conti, including three 750-ml. bottles of 2005 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti that sold for $95,600 after pre-sale estimates of $45,000-$65,000. A 12-bottle lot of Jacques-Frederic Mugnier 2005 Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses went for $50,190, compared to a high estimate of $30,000. “This auction represented a move to a new high level, particularly for Burgundies like DRC that had been sitting at a pricing plateau until now,” noted HDH president Ben Nelson.

•Westward whiskey, part of the Diageo-backed Distill Ventures portfolio, has introduced Westward American Single Malt Cask Strength. The 125-proof bottling retails at $100 a 750-ml. and is available across 30 states via Westward’s online store. The new cask strength entry joins the brand’s core Single Malt ($70), Stout Cask ($90), and Pinot Noir Cask ($90) in the portfolio.

•New Zealand’s Invivo & Co. has appointed Bernard Budel as global sales director. Budel began his career with Villa Maria Estates and was most recently sales director at Red Bull NZ. In the U.S. Budel will be working with Taub Family Selections, importer of the Invivo X, Sarah Jessica Parker wines, which are distributed nationally and include Invivo X, SJP Sauvignon Blanc and Invivo X, SJP Rosé from the South of France.

Tagged : Astoria, Distill Ventures, Hart Davis Hart Wine Co., Invivo & Co., Prestige Beverage Group, Westward

GET YOUR FIRST LOOK AT 2021 DATA AND 2022 PROJECTIONS FOR THE WINE AND SPIRITS INDUSTRIES. ORDER YOUR 2022 IMPACT DATABANK REPORTS. CLICK HERE.