Germany’s Black Tower buys into Yapp Bros

The producer of big volume German wine brand Black Tower has taken a share in west country Rhône specialist, Yapp Brothers.

Black Tower is Germany’s biggest branded wine export with annual global sales of more than 14 million bottles

In a move announced on Wednesday this week – but effective from October 1 – Reh Kendermann, the Bingen-based bottler of Black Tower, has invested in Wiltshire’s Yapp Brothers to help boost distribution of the Germany company’s wines in the UK’s specialist sector.

Explaining the motivation for the investment Alexander Rittlinger, managing director of Reh Kendermann said, “As an exporter, Great Britain is strategically a very important market for us.”

Continuing, he said, “In addition to the off-trade, we will now also be increasingly represented in the on-trade, specialist retailers and the dot.com business thanks to this partnership.”

Jason Yapp, managing director of Yapp Brothers commented, “We are delighted to be involved with Reh Kendermann; the partnership will enable us to build on our existing business and make it even more successful. It also provides the opportunity to strengthen the Yapp brand internationally.”

Yapp Brothers was founded in 1969 in Mere in Wiltshire. The company is widely recognised as the leading importer of French regional wines in the UK, above all those from the Rhône, the Loire, and Languedoc-Roussillon. Yapp’s business comprises a retail shop, an online shop for private customers and a wholesale arm.

Reh Kendermann is one of the most modern wineries in Germany, specialising in the production of branded and own-label wines. The company is the largest exporter of branded wines from Germany, including Black Tower, as well as being a leading branded wine importer.