St. Augustine Distillery Marks 5th Year of Selling Its Bourbon

Posted on September 6, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

Philip McDaniel and Mike Diaz, co-founders of St. Augustine Distillery, laid down the first four barrels in December 2013. They got Florida’s prohibition-era laws changed in the spring of 2014, allowing consumers to purchase two bottles per person, per year from the distillery’s retails shop.  The distillery opened its doors in September 2016 and within four days sold 4,000 bottles of the first craft bourbon made from Florida corn, distilled in Florida and aged, barreled and bottled in the state.

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Pernod Ricard Grew 9.7% Organically in FY 2021

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

Pernod Ricard reports organic sales growth of 9.7% last year, but said adverse foreign exchange owing to U.S. Dollar and emerging market currency depreciation cut reported sales gain to 4.6%.  Sales in the Americas were up 14% with broad growth in the U.S., Canada and South America. Sales in Asia-REst of World were up 11% and those in Europe gained 4%.

Strategic international brands were up 11% and strategic local brands gained 7%.

The company’s reported net profit exploded, rising to 1.3 billion euros from 329 million euros.   It did not calculate a per-share result. Organically, profit advance 18.3%.  Looking at profit from recurring operations, the company said profit rose 7% to $3.9 billion from 2.26 billion eurpes a year earlier.

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B-F Net Sales Jump 20% in Quarter as Brand Disposals Cut Net Profit 41%

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

Brown-Forman Corp. reports net profit fell 41% to $192 million, or 40 cents a share, as sales advanced 20% to $906 million.  The lower profit reflected the year earlier $192 million gain on the sale of the Canadian Mist, Early Times and Collingswood brands.

There was strong growth across all geographic clusters and in travel retail, the company said, with the Jack Daniel’s Family of Brands gaining 20%, premium bourbon sales soaring 35% closely followed by a 32% surge in the tequila portfolio.  Advertising soared 46%.

The Jack Daniel’s growth was propelled by Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
which benefited from higher volumes globally and favorable channel mix in the U.S.  related to the on-premise reopening.  Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Apple’s net sales growth was fueled by the ongoing international launch.

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Coastal Grape Growers Can Use 50% Less Water During Drought, Not Hurt Quality

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

California grape growers in coastal areas can use less water during times of drought and cut irrigation levels without affecting crop yields or quality, according to a new study out of the University of California, Davis.

The findings, published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science, show that vineyards can use 50% of the irrigation water normally used by grape crops without compromising flavor, color and sugar content.

It sheds new light on how vineyards can mitigate drought effects at a time when California is experiencing a severe water shortage and facing more extreme weather brought on by climate change, according to lead author Kaan Kurtural, professor of viticulture and enology and an extension specialist at UC Davis.

“It is a significant finding,” Kurtural said. “We don’t necessarily have to increase the amount of water supplied to grape vines.”

Kurtural and others from his lab studied irrigation and cabernet sauvignon grape quality at a research vineyard in Napa Valley over two growing seasons, a rainy one in 2019 and a hyper-arid one in 2020.

They focused on crop evapotranspiration, which was the amount of water lost to the atmosphere from the vineyard system based on canopy size. The weekly tests used irrigation to replace 25%, 50% and 100% of what had been lost by the crop to evapotranspiration.

Researchers found that replacing 50% of the water was the most beneficial in maintaining the grape’s flavor profile and yield. The level of symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, which help grapevines overcome stresses such as water deficits, was also not compromised. And the water used to dilute nitrogen application was also reduced, making the process more environmentally friendly.

The water footprint for growing grapes also decreased. For both the 25% and 50% replacement levels, water use efficiency increased between 18.6% and 29.2% in the 2019 growing season and by 29.2% and 42.9% in the following dry year.

While focused on cabernet sauvignon, most red grapes will respond similarly, he said.

“In the end, drought is not coming for wine,” Kurtural said. “There doesn’t need to be a tremendous amount of water for grapes. If you over irrigate in times like these, you’re just going to ruin quality for little gain.”

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Justin Vineyards & Winery Acquires Napa Valley’s Lewis Cellars

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

Lewis Cellars will remain under the leadership and guidance of Randy Lewis and Dennis Bell, while benefiting from the established marketing, strategy, and sales teams behind Justin, Landmark, and JNSQ.  Terms weren’t disclosed.

“We are excited to join forces with the Justin team,” said Randy Lewis, co-founder of Lewis Cellars. “As we approach our 30-year anniversary, we’ve had the pleasure of perfecting our wines for decades. With the additional resources and industry expertise available through this partnership, we can really show the world the excellence we’ve bottled.”

Established in 1992 by Randy and Debbie Lewis as a small family winery, Lewis Cellars produces luxury Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc.

International Wine Associates (IWA) served as the exclusive advisors to and represented Lewis Cellars in this transaction.

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Economy Watch: New Orders, Production Growing, Jobs Contracting

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

The overall U.S. manufacturing economy notched a 15th consecutive month of growth in August, according to the Manufacturing ISM Report on Business.  New orders were up, as was production.  The Prices Index declined 1.5 percentage points to 79.4%, its first reading below 80% since December.

The backlog of orders increased, but employment contracted, and supplier deliveries eased.  Both imports and exports grew a bit.

“All segments of the manufacturing economy are impacted by record-long raw-materials lead times, continued shortages of critical basic materials, rising commodities prices and difficulties in transporting products,” said Timothy R. Fiore, chair of the Institute for Supply Management  (ISM) Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

“The new surges of COVID-19 are adding to pandemic-related issues — worker absenteeism, short-term shutdowns due to parts shortages, difficulties in filling open positions and overseas supply chain problems — that continue to limit manufacturing-growth potential, he said. However, optimistic panel sentiment remained strong, with eight positive comments for every cautious comment.

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