According to Nielsen’s most recent off-premise scan data, the spirits industry saw improved growth in the period to May 29 when compared to the prior month, but momentum is still slow. In the 4 weeks to May 29, sales grew 1.6% and volumes gained 1.8%--a slight improvement over the previous four-week period, in which sales declined 0.8% and volumes fell 0.2%. Despite hype around the release of 2009 Bordeaux as one of the best vintages seen in years, U.S. merchants say sales are below expectations. Glenfiddich presented a rare tasting of a 50-year-old single malt whiskey in NYC on June 17. Only five bottles of the spirit were allocated to the U.S. According to a Daily Mail article, English entrepreneur James Nash has sold his invention of single-serve plastic wine glasses–stem and all!–to Marks & Spencer, which now “struggles to keep up with demand.” Hot on the heels of William Grant & Sons’ purchase of the Philly-based Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction brand, including its sasparilla-sassafras-birch beer ROOT liqueur, AITA is bottling another organic spirit, SNAP, based on a Pennsylvanian Dutch blackstrap molasses gingersnap recipe. The bottles will be on Pennsylvania shelves later this summer; widespread distribution of both SNAP and ROOT to be announced. Is this love? Whitesnake launches a new wine label, a “bodacious” Zinfandel. The wine launches July 1, in partnership with Sonoma County's De La Montany Winery.
