Market Watch November 2023

In the California wine business, the drumbeat of consolidation rolls on, and in recent years the pace has quickened significantly, with the top five companies now accounting for nearly two thirds of the state’s wine sales. It’s certainly an interesting time in California wine’s history: Spurred on by generational changes, many family-owned wineries founded in the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s have been selling out. That, of course, has been going on for some time—think of Constellation’s acquisition of Robert Mondavi Winery nearly 20 years ago—but lately this trend has accelerated as more families look to exit the business, leaving the big players to become even bigger. This trend, coupled with all the consolidation at the distribution and the retail tier, has made it more difficult for smaller independent winemakers to…

With Nabedian Set To Retire, Ernest Gallo To Lead E. & J. Gallo…. One of the foremost executives in the American wine business is retiring after a 37 year career. Roger Nabedian, long the head of E. & J. Gallo’s premium wine division, will be retiring effective in January. Post-retirement, Nabedian will join the Gallo board as a director. Across his more than three-decade tenure with the world’s largest wine marketer, Nabedian played a key role in Gallo’s transformation into a fully diversified wine group boasting a portfolio of brands at all price tiers of the business. Since 2005, he has led the company’s billion-dollar premium wine division, holding titles of increasing responsibility, culminating in his current role of executive vice president and general manager. It’s difficult to overstate Gallo’s…

Los Angeles: Moxy Hotel Levels Up With Eight New Concepts The Moxy Downtown Los Angeles Hotel, which opened earlier in 2023, has become a destination for dining and drinks following the September debut of Level 8, a collection of restaurants and bars that sprawl across the eighth floor of the hotel. Spanning 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space, Level 8 houses eight distinct on-premise concepts. Drinks-focused outlets include the piano bar and jazz lounge Mr. Wanderlust, the poolside carousel bar Golden Hour, and the nightclub space Sinners y Santos. These are joined by the French teppanyaki restaurant Maison Kasai, the oyster and ceviche bar Mother of Pearl, the South American grill Qué Bárbaro, the Mexican street food-inspired The Brown Sheep, and the Japanese eatery Lucky Mizu. Mr. Wanderlust…

Dewar’s Double Double 37-Year-Old Bacardi has announced Dewar’s Double Double 37-year-old, a new luxury blended malt from the U.S.’s second-largest blended Scotch brand. The 48% abv whisky ($1,800 a 375-ml.) is finished in Oloroso Sherry casks that previously held single malts from the Aultmore. The limited release is the first of four whiskies in Dewar’s Collector’s Series, with new entries in the series coming out every year until 2026. Dewar’s Double Double 37-year-old is available in limited quantities. Each bottle is packaged with two Baccarat Massena crystal tumblers. Last year, Dewar’s jumped nearly 20% in the U.S. to reach 1.1 million cases. For more information, visit Dewars.com. Glenmorangie A Tale of Tokyo Moët Hennessy has announced the latest limited edition offering from Glenmorangie, A Tale of Tokyo. The new single malt…

Financial analysts have been talking about a looming recession for a year or more, and while that might be cause for concern in many industries, bartenders are not in panic mode. The bar industry has long been described as recession proof. Indeed, when times are tough people often turn to their neighborhood watering hole for comfort and camaraderie. As discretionary spending tightens, bars and restaurants are certainly affected, but 2023 has beaten most of the odds and proven wrong the cautionary financial predictions that started this year. According to the National Restaurant Association, the restaurant and bar industry is expected to reach $997 billion in sales this year, up from $898 billion in 2022. What’s more, the staffing issues that plagued restaurants and bars during the Covid-19 pandemic have lessened,…

Consolidation is nothing new for the wine industry, but the pace of change has accelerated in recent years as interest rates have risen, costs of labor and supplies have jumped, and demand for wine has softened. Those and myriad other factors are contributing to a new wave of acquisitions that is changing the California wine landscape. “We are in challenging times that put many wineries into a stress-test environment,” says Peter Mondavi, Jr., co-proprietor of Napa’s Charles Krug Winery, summing up the feelings of many in the industry. The current market conditions have prompted the pace of acquisitions to accelerate, notes Steve Lohr, president and CEO of J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines. “It seems like every week somebody’s being purchased,” he says. While he notes the potential negatives to such…