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May 2017 WINES&VINES 17 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS Bread & Butter was co-owned by Alcohol by Volume, (which also produced Alias Wines, Aviary Napa Valley, Des Amis, Le Mistral, Mani- festo Wine Cellars and State of Art wines) and Fior di Sole, owner of Ca' Momi. Its CEO, Greg- ory Ahn, is president & CEO at Folktale Winery & Vineyards, which is based in the Carmel Val- ley at the former Chateau Julien winery. The wine is produced by Napa custom win- ery Fior di Sole, which will continue to make wine for WX. Oren Lewin, senior vice president of market- ing and strategy at WX, said Bread and Butter has become one of the Top 30 super-premium brands in the United States in just three years. Nielsen ranked it No. 27 among $12-$15 brands for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 28. "Bread & Butter grew over 70% in 2016—it has really struck a chord with consumers," Lewin said. He seemed assured of grape sup- ply, pointing out that WX is assuming some of Jamieson's grape contracts, and Fior di Sole will continue sourcing and making the Bread & Butter wines. Winery Exchange was founded 17 years ago, and its annual sales have grown to 1.42 million cases, which would make it No. 17 of the top 30 wineries by case sales, according to Wine Business Monthly's annual "Hot Brands" list. WX makes more than 80 exclusive brands for domestic retailers and those abroad, par- ticularly in the U.K. It owns a bottling line in Sonoma County but contracts out to wineries, breweries and distillers for products for retailers such as Whole Foods, Kroger, BevMo, Walmart and Total Wine & More. The company changed its name to WX about a year ago, when it started producing spirits and beer as well as wine, but wine remains most of its business. Coppola buys Silverwood Vineyard Vintner Francis Ford Coppola purchased 100 acres of the 1,200-acre Silverwood Ranch in the Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak AVA from Barry and Jackie Hoffner. The property is a key source of grapes for Coppola's flagship Archimedes brand. The AVA straddles the Sonoma-Mendocino county line and includes the northern tip of the Alexander Valley AVA. The property contains 10.5 acres of Caber- net Sauvignon vines and 2.5 acres of Malbec on the Sonoma County side on the slopes of Pine Mountain at 1,800-3,000 feet. Coppola has renamed it Archimedes Vineyard after Cop- pola's uncle and the brand. "This is our first step in a strategic shift to focus on vineyard acquisitions, selecting parcels and vineyard blocks that reflect the county's distinctive terroir and heritage," said Steve Spadarotto, CEO of The Family Coppola, the umbrella organization for Cop- pola's ventures. Coppola's wineries include Francis Ford Coppola Winery and the former Geyser Peak Winery (now Virginia Dare Winery) in Sonoma County and Inglenook Winery in Napa Valley. Josh Phelps sells Taken Wine Co. Trinchero Family Estates is buying Josh Phelps' share of Taken Wine Co. Trinchero already was producing the Millennial-oriented Taken, Com- plicated and Available wines for Phelps and his business partner, Carlo Trinchero. Trinchero Estates' CEO Roger Trinchero is Carlo's father. Carlo Trinchero has been director of fine wine for the company. Phelps plans to create his own Napa Valley wine company. —Paul Franson ECO-FRIENDLY PLASTIC STORAGE BINS PLASTIC CALLOUS BOXES FOR VINE CLEANLINESS Wonderful Nurseries' ADVANCED TESTING LAB WonderfulNurseries.com 661.758.4777 PREMIER QUALITY FROM NORTH AMERICA'S LEADING VINE NURSERY SERVING THE WINE, TABLE GRAPE, RAISIN AND PISTACHIO INDUSTRIES Leaders raise the bar in everything they do and that's why Wonderful Nurseries continues to set the industry standards for vine cleanliness, improved irrigation methods and product selection. In the last year alone, Wonderful Nurseries has completed a new, state-of the-art greenhouse facility to house 8 million-vines annually, changed from wood to eco-friendly recycled plastic storage bins and callous boxes, and introduced new sanitization techniques. From our 2010 Protocol mother blocks, our advanced testing lab enabling 100% scion testing for internal mother blocks, the innovative Root Sock and more, Wonderful Nurseries strives to provide the cleanest, healthiest vines in the industry. It's how we lead. It's how we grow. "Bread & Butter grew over 70% in 2016— it has really struck a chord with consumers." —Oren Lewin, WX