SPI Group has withdrawn its proposal to restructure troubled vodka producer CEDC, just days after placing a bid
The owner of Stolichnaya vodka, along with a consortium of other investors, including investment company A1 and CEDC shareholder Mark Kaufman, have pulled their bid offer of US$280 million cash and $650m in new debt to restructure the group, which was made just last...
Bill that would repeal the West Virginia’s longstanding prohibition on Sunday retail liquor sales advances
One of West Virginia's so-called "blue laws" would come off the books under a bill advancing in the House of Delegates. The House Judiciary Committee on Monday advanced a bill that would repeal the state's longstanding prohibition on Sunday retail liquor sales. The...
Climate change and global warming might rewrite the world of wine
It's circa 2050 and shoppers are stopping off at Ikea to buy fine wine made in Sweden. A Nordic fantasy? Not according to climate experts who say the Earth's warming phase is already driving a wave of change through the world of wine. As new frontiers for grape...
Cognac exports stay strong despite slower volumes
Cognac export volumes slowed last year but raced ahead in value, new figures have shown. In 2012, Cognac exports increased by 3.2% in volume to a record 168m bottles, and by 16.7% in value, according to Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC) data released...
Indiana might soon blaze its own bourbon trail – legislation that could foster creation of micro-distilleries advances
The Indiana Senate passed legislation Tuesday on a 38-9 vote that advocates believe could lead to the creation of the state’s own bourbon trail. Senate Bill 1296 would allow craft micro-distilleries to operate in Indiana. Businesses could sell hard alcohol on-site or...
Liquor stores could open on Sundays, and they would be allowed to sell items other than alcohol under a wine-in-grocery-stores bill now being weighed in the state Senate in Tennessee
The Senate Finance Committee approved amendments Tuesday that would loosen restrictions on liquor stores in a bid to break the impasse over new alcohol legislation. But the committee put off a final vote on the bill for a week amid signs that the changes still were...
Bulk versus bottle dilemma for South African wine
At South Africa's Rostberg and Co., green bottles filled with a ruby liquid clink as they march along a conveyor belt, destined for wine-lovers from Paris to Shanghai. But if a trend toward bulk shipping continues, the music of the Rostberg bottling plant may be about...
New Zealand hails ‘vintage of a lifetime’
While the warm, dry summer has caused problems for the country’s sheep farmers, New Zealand Winegrowers’ CEO Philip Gregan described conditions as “absolutely perfect for growing and ripening grapes.” With NZWG having shaken off earlier concerns about a potential...
Baijiu expanding outside China
Diageo Plc (DGE), the world’s largest liquor company, will expand sales of the Shuijingfang white spirit to Italy, Spain and the Middle East this year to reduce reliance on the liquor’s home market by tapping Chinese abroad. Overseas sales may rise to 40 percent of...