Pernod Ricard has bought its first US winery, in a move the company says will boost sales of labels including Australian-made Jacob’s Creek.
Jean-Christophe Coutures, chief of Pernod Ricard Winemakers, said the purchase of Kenwood Vineyards of California from US wine company F Korbel & Bros would rapidly expand Pernod’s reach in the US via Kenwood’s distribution network across 50 states, The Australian reports.
“We are only No 16 in the US wine market, whereas in every other large wine market in the world we’re in the top three wine companies,” Coutures said. “The big issue we have is access to distribution, and Kenwood gives us larger and stronger distribution access which will benefit the rest of our brands.”
“We have big ambitions in China and the US — but we didn’t have any brands in the US, and US-made wine represents 80 per cent of consumption there, so in order to be credible and reach our goal of doubling our business in the US, we needed to make an acquisition,” Coutures said.
Coutures said Pernod would be interested in buying the US assets of Australian wine major Treasury Wine Estates, which owns several wineries including Beringer, Stag’s Leap and Chateau St Jean.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Treasury Wine Estate has denied being approached by or being involved in talks with Pernod Ricard.
Treasury Wine Estates managing director Michael Clarke has stated that the US wine business is an integral part of the company and is not up for sale.
Last month, TWE confirmed that the company needed to address its costs structure in order to improve shareholder value. Clarke said this could include cutting jobs and selling poorer performing commercial wine brands across its extensive portfolio which consists of 83 labels from Australia and abroad.