Wine Spectator’s New York Wine Experience Concludes With Mel Dick Receiving Top Award

 

Wine Spectator’s 2016 New York Wine Experience capped off on Saturday night with industry icon Mel Dick receiving the Distinguished Service Award at the Grand Banquet.

Dick has been a leading figure in the wine business for nearly six decades, and has spent more than 40 years building Southern Wine & Spirits’ wine unit into an unparalleled force. 

When Dick joined Southern as general sales manager of the distributor’s wine division in 1969, the unit’s annual sales were less than $900,000. As president of the wine division of the recently-formed Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, Dick now heads an operation with sales in excess of $6 billion.

"What Robert Mondavi and Ernest Gallo were to wine production, Mel Dick has been to wine distribution. A giant in the field," said M. Shanken Communications chairman Marvin R. Shanken in presenting the award. 

Not long after Dick was honored, the wine industry’s signature event closed on an even higher note, as Huey Lewis and the News took the stage, wowing the crowd with their vast array of hits from years past. Then, in a surprise appearance that thrilled the audience, rock legend Sting joined Lewis for a song, following up on an acoustic number he performed earlier in the day during the Wine Experience’s afternoon seminar.

Proceeds from the Wine Experience support the Wine Spectator Scholarship Foundation, which funds educational institutions and student scholarships in the fields of wine, food and hospitality. The Scholarship Foundation has raised $20 million to date.

Wine Spectator’s 2017 New York Wine Experience will be held from October 19-21 at the Marriott Marquis. Tickets go on sale in February.

News Briefs:

•Bacardi has unveiled new packaging for its Oakheart spiced rum offshoot. Intended to further differentiate Oakheart ($15 a 750-ml.) from the core Bacardi portfolio, the updated package features a more “classic and masculine” look, with imagery depicting a barrel and flames over a pair of crossed axes. Concurrently, Oakheart is ramping up its focus on the LDA male millennial demographic with its new “Take the Oakth” initiative, inviting consumers to participate in physical challenges across key U.S. markets, as well as a variety of targeted advertising at tailgates and sporting events. Oakheart was down 11% to 163,000 cases in the U.S. last year, according to Impact Databank.

•M.S. Walker has added Mezcales de Leyenda and Peloton De La Muerta Mezcal to its import portfolio. Mezcales de Leyenda’s portfolio includes Mezcal from Oaxaca ($66, 84 proof), Guerrero ($80, 90 proof), Durango ($90, 94 proof) and Peloton De La Muerte ($40, 82 proof). The brand expects to launch a Mezcal from Puebla ($90, 90 proof), San Luis Potosi ($60, 94 proof) and Tamaulipas ($95, 96 proof) nationwide in 2017. The lineup of mezcals is certified USDA Organic and Fair Trade.

•Beam Suntory’s Jim Beam facilities in Clermont and Boston, Kentucky are operating at full-strength again today after the end of a weeklong strike by union workers. Late last week, Jim Beam’s union workforce overwhelmingly approved a new labor agreement that Beam Suntory said includes “less reliance on temporary workers, better management of overtime, and a number of improvements to promote work-life balance.”

Craft Brewing and Distilling News:

•Boston Beer Co. posted a depletions decline of 6% in the first three quarters of its fiscal year, ended September 24, as decreases in its Samuel Adams, Angry Orchard and Traveler brands were only partially offset by growth for the Twisted Tea, Truly Spiked & Sparkling and Coney Island labels. Shipment volume was down 8% overall to 3 million barrels during the period. Founder and chairman Jim Koch blamed the declining volume on the lapping of new product launches during the same period a year ago, as well as “a further slowdown across the craft brewing industry.” Koch also noted that a “major packaging update” on Samuel Adams Boston Lager is now rolling out to market, to be followed by upgrades to the brand’s seasonal and Rebel extensions by the end of the year. Meanwhile, late this month Rebel will extend with Juiced, a “tropical IPA,” and Samuel Adams will add two new beers—Hopscape wheat ale and Fresh as Helles lager—early next year.

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