Premium wine push for Constellation

Constellation is concentrating resources on its core premium wine portfolio following the acquisition of South Africa’s Flagstone Winery. This includes increasing the sales, PR and marketing emphasis on key brands under a new umbrella organisation for the UK and mainland Europe called Premium Wine Estates.

“We will be throwing our focus behind the real champions in our portfolio,” said Simon Thorpe MW, vice president at Constellation Europe. “This will involve using PR to bring those wineries to life and building our capabilities internally, for example, incorporating wine development managers into our mainstream sales teams, to enhance the wine culture.”
Constellation have also appointed a “director of premium wine” who will be responsible for instigating the new strategy, which will centre on the wineries listed below. The new director will be announced in the next couple of weeks, according to Thorpe.
Premium Wine Estates will also mean the end of Constellation’s Cellar Door UK subsidiary. “Cellar Door was a separate entity and didn’t effect premium wine cultural change in the overall business,” Thorpe says, explaining its demise.
Overall, Thorpe points out that Constellation is aiming to raise the profile of its premium wine business. “Premium wines and premiumisation are critical to the long term success of the wine category as a whole,” he says, adding, “The acquisition of Beam Wine Estates and the sale of Paul Masson are indications we are moving into the premium area quite quickly.”

Premium Wine Estates’ brands and head winemakers include:

From Australia:
Houghton – Robert Bowen
Barossa Valley Estates (B.V.E.) – Stuart Bourne
Bay of Fires – Fran Austin and Ed Carr
Chateau Reynella – Paul Carpenter
Icon Hardys – Paul Lapsley
Leasingham – Simon Osicka

From California:
Ravenswood – Joel Peterson
Robert Mondavi Winery – Genevieve Janssons

From Canada:
Inniskillin – Bruce Nicholson

From Chile:
Veramonte – Cristian Aliaga

From South Africa:
Flagstone – Bruce Jack
Ses’fikile – Nomvuyo Xaliphi, Jacky Mayo & Nondumiso Pikashe

Patrick Schmitt, 05/03/08