Constellation Brands launches dedicated business unit for fine wine and craft spirits Constellation Brands has formed a standalone, vertically integrated fine wine and craft spirits business unit ‘to enable its aspiration to be the #1 leader in the fine wine category and among the top portfolios in cult and luxury wine’.
Constellation launched its wine and spirits business transformation in 2019 and has focused its portfolio on higher-end brands. The portfolio continues to outpace high-end wine and spirits segments, primarily driven by its ‘power brands’ at the greater than $11 price point - including wines Kim Crawford, Meiomi, The Prisoner Wine Company and whiskey High West.
98 Cohiba Behike BHK 52 (2010)
A decade ago, when Cuba’s BHK 52 first came out and was named Cigar of the Year, we predicted that it would improve with age. We were correct. While first puffs linger in the medium-bodied realm of cedar, herbs and wheat, the cigar shifts to a surprisingly powerful core of hazelnut and walnut liqueurs, marzipan and dark, earthy espresso bean. A big brown sugar note seems to caramelize on the palate for a complex finish of crème brûlée. The powerful flavors are no doubt fueled by the medio tiempo, a full-bodied tobacco that’s retained its strength over 10 years but enhances the cigar’s complexity. Can’t wait to try it again in 2030.
‘Tomato juice moments’: ‘When someone is on an airplane, the environment tends to lead them to drink tomato juice because it s something that you don t do at home. I think the on-trade is similar,’ Diageo GB managing director Dayalan Nayager says Diageo GB managing director Dayalan Nayager reflects on a St Patrick s Day like no other for the team behind Guinness, and explains why ‘tomato juice moments’ can help the on-trade bounce back from its Covid symptoms.
St Patrick’s Day 2020 was a watershed moment for Diageo GB boss Dayalan Nayager, as the Guinness maker saw seven figures fly out of the company coffers in a matter of hours instead of the customary sale of what the British Beer and Pub Association estimates is around 14m on-trade pints.
Fine wine investment: Bordeaux 2020 17th March, 2021 by Philip Staveley
The Bordeaux 2020 vintage looks promising, but will producers try to make up in price what they lose out in volume, asks
Philip Staveley of Amphora Portfolio Management.
Under normal circumstances mid-March in the fine wine market is a very exciting time, awash with expectation about the forthcoming en primeur campaign, but unfortunately we can’t quite call these normal circumstances.
The recent attempt by the UGCB to raise the stakes by announcing that the campaign this year, for the 2020 vintage, would take place in 10 cities worldwide has just being reined in to now exclude the US and the UK, so the focus will be on mainland Europe and, more particularly, the Asian cites of Hong Kong and Shanghai.