BRANDY IS BEING REVIVED BY E&J GALLO

Argonaut Brandy is new, by E&J Gallo


[ENG] E&J Gallo, a massive and trend-making machine company in the wine & spirits industry is making news for its recent stake into the super premiun and craft brandy category in the USA. First, E&J Gallo released late July 2017 its long awaited Brandy Argonaut which is inspired by the brandy movement prior to prohibition.
Then, they acquired Brandy Germain-Robin mid-August. Clearly something huge is going to happen now!


Argonaut Brandy, 3 different styles, produced by E&J Gallo

[FR] Ca bouge dans la categorie 'Brandy' aux USA, j'ai meme envie de dire que ca bouge beaucoup.
Fin juillet 2017, E&J Gallo lance Brandy Argonaut, un brandy craft a la mode americaine, plutot Californienne devrais-je dire.
Et mi-aout 2017, E&J Gallo, encore, prend acquisition de la maison prestigieuse Brandy Germain-Robin.
Mais qu'est-ce qui se passe?

Sources: Gallo, Argonaut Brandy, Tasting Panel Magazine

INNOVATIVE CRAFT SPIRITS DISTILLERY IN ISRAEL

The Pelter family has long been in the tradition of distilling with an uncle traveling in a Ford T going from East to West of the USA to offer distilling service with a home made pot still in 1920 with the start of prohibition.

They distill using a used old cognac pot still they had sourced in France. It is small and therefore can only produce small batch.

They did not follow any one and Pelter is producing spirits from Majhoul dates which was the genesis of this distilling, then single grape brandy of merlot, gin, apple brandy, and soon whisky.

Pelter Distillery makes Single Grape Brandy of Merlot in Israel

They use the resources and grapes from their estate which is very reputable in Israel.

Source: Pelter Winery and Distillery

ONLINE RETAILERS SPECIALIZING IN CRAFT SPIRITS

Retail distribution in the wine & spirits has a curious evolution cycle.

Small retailers of Wines & Spirits, then Larger retailers, then Online Retailers, then Online but just spirits for instance, then more narrow and specific with an online store with just Craft Spirits. See for example the one below from New York.

Check for instance: https://www.newyorkcraftspirits.com

New York Craft Spirits

It is becoming interesting how the marketplace is changing into wider or more specific retailing formats.

The 2 trends are education and price as far I can see.

Retail business models with less education = the local liquor store. Dirty, Messy and not enjoyable but just across and for people not looking for anything special.

The other end of the spectrum is large numbers of everything with huge assortments, premium products and prices, and many store attendants that know, with a club membership and special talks to attend and tastings.

Everything in between is the danger zone.

YOU ARE LOOKING FOR CRAFT AND ARTISANAL SPIRITS AND YOU ARE WONDERING WHERE TO GO IN LOS ANGELES TO FIND THESE?

CBS NEWS offered an article which highlighted some of the best places (seven) to go to get these craft spirits, these artisanal alcoholic beverages made in small batches which are so important to create an authentic cocktail.

Comandon VS in bar

I added a few more. These places took the courage to sell craft spirits. Spirits made in small scale without large multi-media advertising campaigns. Some started selling artisanal spirits before it became a consumer trend and therefore were leading the trend, and some other were reacting to consumer demands, but at the end none of them are looking back.

Bar Keeper
3910 W. Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 669-1675
www.barkeepersilverlake.com

Beverage Warehouse
4935 McConnell Ave, Ste 21
Los Angeles, CA 90066
(310) 306-2822
www.beveragewarehouse.com

Cap N’ Cork
1674 Hillhurst Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 665-1260

Emilio's Beverage Warehouse
17251 Lakewood Blvd.,
Bellflower, CA 90706
(562) 630-8683
www.emiliosbeveragewarehouse.com

Everson Royce
155 N Raymond Ave,
Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 765-9334
www.eversonroyce.com

Gourmet Wines & Spirits
626 Wilshire Blvd., #120,
Los Angles, CA 90017
(213) 489-2666
www.gourmetwinesandspirits.com

Hi-Time Wine Cellars (not in LA but Orange County but one of the best store)
250 Ogle St,
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
(949) 650-8463
www.hitimewine.net

K&L Wines
1400 Vine St
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 464-9463
www.klwines.com

Lincoln Fine Wines
727 Lincoln Blvd.,
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 392-7816.
www.lincolnfinewines.com

Ramirez Liquor
736 S. Soto St.,
Los Angeles, CA 90023
(323) 261-2915
www.ramirezliquor.com

Red Carpet Wine
400 E. Glenoaks Blvd.,
Glendale, CA 91207
(800) 339-0609.
www.redcarpetwine.com

Silverlake Wine
2395 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90039
(323) 662-9024
www.silverlakewine.com

Vendome Spirits & Wine
10600 Riverside Dr
North Hollywood, CA 91602
(818) 766-9593
www.vendometolucalake.com

Wally Wine & Spirits
2107 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 475-0606
www.wallywine.com

Source: CBS News

SCALE-ABILITY OF CRAFT SPIRIT BRANDS IS WEAK

"What is a craft spirit company ... the term needs to be defined" says Alexandre Ricard, CEO of Pernod Ricard one of the world's leading wine & spirits company in a recent article in the Spirits Business Magazine.

A craft spirit company is centered around the product, the people, the small scale, and the personal touch of hand work.

In contrast, spirit companies which are not craft are focused on shareholders, marketing, packaging, advertising and promotions, sales, campaigns, market research, and ROI.

Craft Scalability

Consumers are looking for more authentic flavors based on the growing interest in learning of the traditional production methods. Gen-Xers and Millennials are also prioritizing the concept of local and artisan made products. The concept of farm-to-bottle is very enticing to these people.

“We're monitoring craft very closely. To really enter the craft segment in the US, you need to have a long-term view: Is there a real distillery that is craft? What is its scale-ability?” says Alexandre Ricard in Just-Drinks.com.

But there are many risks to invest in Craft spirits where scaling up becomes a problem, i.e., Tito's Handmade Vodka being recently under scrutiny when producing over 2 million cases of vodka.

My guess is that Pernod Ricard will get a Bourbon Craft brand very soon.

Source: Just-Drinks.com