Campari Releases a Newly Styled Ready to Serve Negroni

Posted on May 10, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

The newly styled Campari Negroni Ready to Serve (26% ABV, SRP: $24.99) features a new, elegant design and is an expertly crafted Negroni cocktail made using the same iconic cocktail recipe from over 100 years ago. A perfect blend of equal parts Campari, London Dry Gin and Sweet Vermouth – simply pour over ice and garnish with an orange slice and you have the iconic Negroni at your fingertips. Available in a 375 ml bottle, the newly designed offering includes approximately four servings of the Negroni, making it perfect for a date night or small gathering. Whether you’re on-the-go or hosting a cocktail party, dinner or aperitivo hour at home, the Campari Negroni Ready to Serve can be conveniently enjoyed, recreating your favorite cocktail bar moment for any occasion.

The Negroni is one of the most famous Italian cocktails in the world. Envisioned by Count Negroni in 1919 – who asked his barman to add a touch of gin rather than soda to his Americano in honor of his last trip to London – the beloved cocktail was eventually named after the Count. The combination of London Dry Gin and Sweet Vermouth with Campari, the red heart of the Negroni, offers a crafted mix of juniper, sweet citrus, spice and herbal notes paired with a wormwood and bitter root finish.

 “People have been enjoying the Negroni cocktail for more than a century, and its popularity is still growing today,” said Andrea Sengara, Head of Marketing, Campari America. “With the Ready to Serve format now available, consumers can enjoy the world’s No. 1 classic cocktail anywhere, and with ease.”

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Caymus Opens a Tasting Room in Suisun Valley

Posted on May 10, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

The Wagner Family, one of Napa Valley’s biggest wine dynasties, has just opened a winery and tasting room in the San Francisco Bay Area’s Suisun (pronounced soo-SOON) Valley, an area which until now has been almost a backwater in California’s wine business.  The home of six mom-and-pop-style wineries, Caymus has just opened  a massive, state-of-the-art visitor center known as Caymus-Suisun.

Designed by the architecture firm behing Apple Store, the new location, says the San Francisco Chronicle, “almost feels like a resort, with floor-to-ceiling glass walls and a promenade of palm trees.”

The property was an apricot cutting and dehydration plant, but now it can seat 150 customers in the tasting pavilion, has a private tasting area for birthday parties or corporate affairs.  Yes, you can buy a bottle of wine.

Chuck Wagner has been a longtime critic of Napa County’s strict rules about how much wine can be produced, what events are allowed (no weddings!), etc.

“Conditions in Napa aren’t conducive to making or bottling wine,” said Chuck Wagner. But neighboring Solano County represented a wild frontier, granting him considerably more freedom. In 2018, he moved the majority of wine production to a facility in Suisun Valley. All Wagner-made wine is now bottled here.

We have the feeling that if Chuck Wagner has his way, in a decade of so, it’s the Suisun Valley people will be talking about, not Napa.

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More Inflation Ahead Because of Corporate Pricing Power

Posted on May 10, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

Businesses still can pass higher costs onto customers, and this will keep inflation sticky, says ING Economics.  “Ongoing supply chain issues and rising fuel costs mean 2% inflation is a distant prospect,” it adds.  Another factor: Businesses are still struggling to find workers.

Some 70% of businesses raised selling prices in the past three months, ING notes, the second-highest reading in the history of a survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses. 

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Absolut Responds to Sharp Drop in LGBTQ Bars, Restaurants

Posted on May 10, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

LGBTQ bars and restaurants notched a 15.2% decline between 2019 and Spring 2021 on top of an earlier 14.4% decline between 2017-2019.   In an effort to support these venues, Absolut is launching  “Out & Open,” tapping voices such as actor and comedian Bowen Yang to highlight the irreplaceable impact of LGBTQ bars and restaurants, and bring awareness to their plight as they face a steady decline in the industry.

Absolut is also partnering with the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) with a significant contribution towards succession planning education for these establishments and other LGBTQ owned businesses.

“Absolut is a brand born to mix and that extends to our ethos of being open to all genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities, backgrounds and more. The Absolut Out & Open platform conveys our more than forty years of allyship and ongoing support of LGBTQ bars and restaurants, as we understand the poignant role these spaces play within the community,” said Pam Forbus, SVP, Chief Marketing Officer, Pernod Ricard North America. “Our goal with Out & Open is to bring attention to these critical LGBTQ spaces, leveraging powerful voices within the community like Bowen Yang to illustrate how important it is that they remain open for the future generation to safely gather and celebrate.”

To highlight the importance of protecting the future of LGBTQ bars and restaurants, Absolut is partnering with the NGLCC to make the organization’s training programs around succession planning more accessible to more LGBTQ business owners. Only 34% of small business owners have succession plans,
and of that less than 24% are in the bar and restaurant industry, according to research conducted in 2016 by the NGLCC. The succession trainings, hosted by NGLCC subject matter experts, will take place in cities such as Minneapolis, New Orleans and Denver among other cities as well as virtually.

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Casella Family Brands to Sell 35 Vineyards

Posted on May 9, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

Casella is the family behind Yellow Tail and Peter Lehmann Wines.  The 17,297 acres of vineyards are in South Australia and New South Wales.   The proposed sale represents about 4% of Australia’s entire vineyard properties.

John Casella, managing director, said any sale proceeds will be reinvested in the company’s wineries and wine brands.  The sales are intended to position the company for future sucess, he said, adding that the company will continue to buy fruit from those and other properties.

“The company is in a sound financial position, having recently experienced global record sales for [yellow tail] during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said managing director John Casella, who took over Casella Family Brands in 1994 from his parents Filippo and Maria Casella.

“While demand has stabilised, we are forecasting future growth due to ongoing investment in our brands supported by a strategic innovation pipeline.

“The intended strategic partnership will allow us to focus on strengthening our brands globally, and therefore deliver positive outcomes for the Australian wine industry.”

Some of the motivation might be related to the fact that the ongoing tariff dispute between Australia and China has led to million of grapes rotting at vineyards across the country.  China was once Australia’s principal wine export market.  But that market has shrunk 97% in exceedingly high tariffs were imposed in 2020.  Total export of Australian wine fell 26% in the year to March 2022.  But outside of China, sales grew 7%, and reached the hihest value since 2010.

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Wander + Ivy to Be Featured at PGA Championship

Posted on May 9, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

Wander + Ivy, which specializes in single-serve wines from award-winning family wineries around the world, will be featured at the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa.

Two of Wander + Ivy’s five varietals—Chardonnay and Rosé—will be available in elegant 6.3-ounce glass bottles in Club 1916, the tournament’s largest premium concession area, as well as in the Media Suites and Viewing Suites throughout the course.

Denver and Napa-based Wander + Ivy is a certified women- and disability-owned company providing quality wine in upscale single-serve packaging. All Wander + Ivy wines are produced by award-winning, family-owned vineyards around the world. Each year, Wander + Ivy donates 1-percent of total wine sales to nonprofits providing healthy food to those in need.

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