Autour du vin

New Jersey-based Royal Wine Corp. has a hit on its hands with Impact “Hot Prospect” Bartenura, a premium Italian label that has nearly doubled in volume since 2008, depleting 247,000 cases in 2011, according to Impact Databank. This year, Royal Wine CEO David Herzog says Bartenura will likely reach 400,000 cases on a volume increase of 60%.

Bartenura, like the rest of Royal Wine’s portfolio, is a Kosher wine. (The company does as much as 50% of its volume at Passover, which starts on Friday evening.) Bartenura’s Moscato varietal ($14.99 a 750-ml.) is doing particularly well, leading the company to launch a Moscato Rosé in December and a Sparkling Moscato ($17.99) last month to select markets, with nationwide distribution to follow. The Moscato trend appears to be helping Royal Wine penetrate non-Kosher markets. “I’d estimate about 85% of our Bartenura Moscato sales are outside of Kosher,” Herzog tells Shanken News Daily. “It sells very well in urban markets and among females in general.” The Maryland/Washington D.C. area has been among those driving growth for the brand.

Across its portfolio, Royal Wine expects a 20% volume advance this year. In addition to Bartenura, the company’s lineup features Kosher wines from California (under the Herzog label), Oregon, Chile, Israel, Italy, France, Spain, Australia and New Zealand, ranging in price from $11.99 to $75. “The hottest price point right now is around $20,” Herzog says. “There’s tremendous growth there. But we’re moving a lot of cases up to the $40 mark and above.”

•Oregon’s wine industry is expecting sales growth of between 7%-11% in 2012, according to research commissioned by the Oregon Wine Board. Driven by Pinot Noir, which is expanding at around 10% annually, as well as Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Riesling, sales of Oregon wine have risen by 12% annually over the past five years, hitting $252 million in 2011. Just over one-third of Oregon wine shipments stay in the Pacific Northwest region, while direct-to-consumer sales account for roughly 20% of the state’s wine business.