Sherry-Lehmann Expands Into California, Opening New Operation In Los Angeles Market

New York City-based Sherry-Lehmann is entering the California market. The renowned wine and spirits retailer is establishing a West Coast branch in El Segundo, California, in the greater Los Angeles area. The new operation includes a 20,000-square-foot, temperature-controlled fulfillment center that will become operational on December 1, as well as a 12,000-square-foot retail store and tasting/event space that’s slated to open in early 2017.

“After 82 years in business, we’re bringing the Sherry-Lehmann brand into new markets,” said the company’s president and CEO Chris Adams. “We want to build upon our reputation as a luxury wine and spirits retailer by replicating our skills on a national scale.”

Los Angeles was chosen because of Sherry-Lehmann’s long-standing customer base there, Adams said. El Segundo is just a few miles south of Los Angeles International Aiport (LAX), and is adjacent to Manhattan Beach. “It’s an up-and-coming community that’s popular with artists and accessible to the broader market,” Adams said. “Its residents want access to wine at a certain level—and that’s what we’ll provide.” Proximity to LAX will help facilitate service to Sherry-Lehmann’s national customers, Adams added.

Both the new retail store and tasting space will seek to replicate the look and feel of the New York store, Adams said. “In our overall thinking about how to gain a competitive advantange in the marketplace, we opted to focus on the strength of the Sherry-Lehmann brand,” he noted. “So what’s driving this expansion is the brand—and our ability to reach customers and distinguish ourselves as high-end retailers. And with expansion comes even greater opportunity in terms of allocations and other things. That’s true for this move in California, and will be true of other markets where we may choose to go.”

The new California fulfillment center complements the Manhattan store’s 65,000-square-foot warehouse, which is located in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood. (Inventory also is kept in the store’s temperature-controlled cellar below Park Avenue.) “The first piece in this project has been the logistics in regard to our inventory at the new warehouse, and being able to satisfy our customers in California and across the country. We’ve made significant investments in IT, the warehouse, staffing and our call center.”

Adams left no doubt that the long-term goal is to continue moving into new territories. “Clearly we see an opportunity to expand the Sherry-Lehmann brand nationally, and this represents a first step,” said Adams. “Servicing the customer is our strength, and those skills are translatable in a number of markets.”

News Briefs:

•Pernod Ricard’s Chivas Brothers unit has announced plans to create a new state-of-the-art bottling facility at its Kilmalid site in Dumbarton, Scotland, with an investment of £40 million ($49m). Expected to be complete by 2019, the new facility will incorporate operations currently handled by Pernod’s Paisley bottling plant, which will close by the end of that year. The Paisley site’s workforce will begin transitioning to Kilmalid in 2018. Chivas Brothers’ key brands include Chivas Regal, Ballantine’s, The Glenlivet and Aberlour Scotch whiskies, as well as Beefeater gin.

•Willamette Valley winegrowers were abuzz this fall as they watched vines being pulled at Witness Tree, a venerable vineyard and winery in Oregon’s Eola-Amity Hills AVA. Wine Spectator has learned that earlier this year the owners of Chapter 24 purchased the 100-acre site, planted in 1982, from Carolyn Devine and winemaker Steven Westby for $3.5 million. The new owners have big plans. After making wine from purchased fruit for a few years, Chapter 24 partners Mark Tarlov, a founder of Evening Land Vineyards, and Louis-Michel Liger-Belair, a Burgundy vigneron, are acquiring more than 100 acres across Willamette Valley for vineyards, focusing on volcanic soils. Wine Spectator has the full story.

•Contract distiller MGP Ingredients posted a 17% surge in its premium beverage alcohol sales, to $110 million, in the nine months through September, as American whiskey demand continues to soar. “Demand for our premium Bourbon and rye whiskies continues to outpace category trends,” said MGP president and CEO Gus Griffin. “In our distillery products segment, our focus is on migrating away from industrial alcohol by growing our vodka and gin business, and expanding our whiskey business.” In the third quarter, MGP added $4.7 million to its inventory of aging whiskey, which now totals $45 million.

Craft Brewing and Distilling News:

•Chicago’s Dovetail Brewery is adding a new Dunkelweizen to its seasonal lineup. The dark wheat beer is inspired by classic southern German dark beer as a fall and winter version of a Hefeweizen. Dunkelweizen (5.1% abv) is available on draft at the Dovetail Brewery taproom and select on-premise accounts across Chicago. Dovetail focuses on German and Belgian brewing methods, with its beers including unfiltered German-style lagers, Hefeweizen, Rauchbier and Lambic-style sour beers.

•Maryland-based Gray Wolf Craft Distilling has launched its first product, Lone Single Malt Vodka. Made from 100% malted barley, the new entry was made at Lyon Distilling Co. on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Gray Wolf’s Lone Single Malt Vodka is rolling out to the Maryland and Washington, D.C. markets over the next few weeks.

Recently in the News:

• WhiskyFest New York Draws Sold-Out Crowd To Taste The World’s Top Whiskies
• Japanese Whisky Demand Soars In U.S., Straining Supply
• Interview: Luxury Cognac Brand Camus Makes U.S. Push