Market Watch April 2023

Our annual “Hot Brands” list tells you not only where we’ve been, but where we’re going. One thing we’ve in seen these times—and this might surprise some outsiders—is remarkably strong growth, pretty much across the board. Last year’s spirits volumes in the U.S. market advanced by 6%, reaching 294 million cases. From an already-massive base of 239 million cases in 2019, the market is up by 23% over the past three years. And as I stated in a recent note in our Impact Newsletter, Diageo has expanded its revenue globally by 36% in that period, while Campari has grown by 40%. And that’s to name just a couple of the industry’s star players. At the outset of 2020 and the onset of Covid-19, nobody would have thought this was possible.…

Gallo Extends High Noon…. Spirit of Gallo’s vodka seltzer line High Noon Sun Sips is readying its first major expansion with the launch of High Noon Tequila Seltzer ($22 an 8-pack of 12-ounce cans). Made with blanco Tequila and juice, the line extension will launch with the four flavors—Lime, Grapefruit, Passionfruit, and Strawberry—all at 4.5% abv. High Noon Tequila began rolling out last month, and will be available nationally by May. High Noon has become a juggernaut within the past half decade, rising from less than a million cases in 2019 to become the largest spirits brand in the U.S. last year, according to Impact Databank. It catapulted past Tito’s vodka to reach 16.4 million cases in 2022 on 85% growth year over year, with retail value approaching $1.25 billion.…

The world of prestige rosé is consolidating. Moët Hennessy, the wine and spirits division of LVMH, has purchased a majority stake in the fast-growing Provence estate Château Minuty. Fourth-generation owners Jean-Etienne and François Matton will remain at the helm of the winery their family founded in Saint-Tropez in 1936. Minuty is credited with helping establish the classic pale pink, aromatic style of Provençal rosé that has become the gold standard, and with fueling the explosive popularity of dry pink wine. Today, Minuty is the best-selling premium rosé in France. In the U.S., the brand has been at around 45,000 cases in recent years, handled by New York-based importer Vintus. In the Moët Hennessy portfolio of luxury wine labels, Minuty joins fellow Provençal rosé winery Château d’Esclans, producer of Whispering Angel.…

Miami: Former Theater Welcomes Regal Dining And Nightlife Concept Part upscale restaurant, part high-end nightlife venue, Queen Restaurant & Lounge opened in February in Miami Beach. Located in the former Paris Theater, which was built in 1945 and fully restored for this project, Queen evokes the opulence of the past in a modernized space. Guests enter through golden doors and a brass passageway into The Salon Lounge, which houses the main bar. Specialty drinks in the space include The Idol’s Eye, made with Sipsmith gin, Hakuryu Umeshu plum sake, cocoa nib-infused Campari, and Fee Brothers Cherry bitters, and the Heavenly Sovereign, mixing Teremana Blanco Tequila, Lillet Blanc, Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto liqueur, and passion fruit purée (specialty drinks are $18-$22). Queen has a massive wine list, spanning 30 pages and…

Benriach The Sixteen Brown-Forman is reintroducing Benriach The Sixteen to the brand’s core lineup. After being retired in 2016, the 16-year-old Speyside single malt Scotch whisky ($115 a 750-ml.) is now returning with a new recipe. Benriach The Sixteen is triple-cask matured for at least 16 years in Bourbon barrels, Sherry, and virgin oak casks. It’s bottled at 43% abv and is launching at select retailers. For more information, visit Benriachdistillery.com. Bowmore Master’s Selection 22-Year-Old Beam Suntory’s Bowmore has released Master’s Selection 22-year-old single malt whisky, the latest release in the ongoing partnership between the Islay malt and luxury car maker Aston Martin. The 51.5% abv offering ($450 a 750-ml.) blends American oak and Sherry butt matured whiskies distilled in 1997 and 2000 and is the second release in the…

Each year, Market Watch sister publication Impact Newsletter salutes the fastest growing brands in the U.S. drinks market with its “Hot Brand” awards. This year, the honor roll includes 72 brands across the spirits, wine, and spirits-based RTD categories. There are three different ways to qualify as an Impact Hot Brand: a contender must have shown double-digit growth in each year from 2020-2022, or be an established player with at least 15% growth in 2022, or be a top-ten brand with at least 5% growth in 2022 and 15% growth since 2019. The minimum volume requirement for spirits and imported wines is 200,000 cases, while domestic wines and RTDs must meet a threshold of 250,000 cases. This year, 31 spirits brands earned Hot Brand honors. As expected, given the current…