THE WINEBOW GROUP “GIANT” -1200 EMPLOYEES AND A TURNOVER OF 600 MILLION DOLLARS- IS THE MERGER WITH THE VINTNER GROUP AND WILL BE THE ONLY ITALIAN WINE IMPORT COMPANY DISTRIBUTING DIRECTLY IN 15 US STATES

Starting in July (that is, after Liquor Control Boards in various states give their approvals), The Winebow Group, a giant counting 1200 employees and 600 million dollars in revenue, will be operative in the U.S., the number one wine market in the world. The Group is the result of a merger, which took place yesterday, between Winebow and the Vintner Group, two important names, respectively in import and distribution of Italian wines in the United States. The Winebow Group will be the only company to import Italian wines and distribute them directly with its own sales force in 15 States (New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Washington District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Delaware); 15 states that represent more than 50% of wine consumption in the United States.

Chairman Emeritus, Leonardo LoCascio, founder of Winebow, is at the head of The Winebow Group, one of the pioneers of promotion of fine Italian wines in the U.S.; a true authority in importation of Italian wines in the States, and Chief Executive Officer is David Townsend, who has successfully brought the Vintner Group to its current levels.

It is a great deal for Italian wine in the United States because it opens up new and important scenarios in importation, distribution and promotion of Italian wines on the market of reference for capacity and size of expenditure as well as quality of demand.

The culture and mentality of prohibition are still part of large segments of American society and have never ceased completely. In short, before a bottle of wine (Italian, French, Spanish...) arrives in the US, observing all the rules in a long, costly chain that is very different from the European, from the producer to the final consumer it must go through at least three obligatory passages: importer, distributor and retailer (restaurants and wine bars), and each passage drives up the costs (taxes, transport, storage...) and so the effects are damaging for wine consumption.

The most obvious bottleneck in the American system lies in distribution, which in recent years has consolidated: in the nineties, there were 10.000 wholesalers compared to 400.000 various kinds of retailers (restaurateurs, wineries...); today there are 700 wholesalers, large and small (and five wholesalers alone represent 48% of the volume of business, even if their attention is focused on spirits), compared to 550.000 retailers.

Today, this agreement, for the more than 50 Italian companies in The Winebow Group (Altesino, Argiolas, Vastellare, Ceretto, Di Majo Norante, Falesco, Fazi Battaglia, Gianfranco Fino, Galardi De Castris, Librandi, Maculan, Mastroberardino, Montevetrano, Princic, Roberto Voerzio, San Polo, Tasca d'Almerita, Tua Rita, Valdipiatta, Valle Reale, Zenato), opens a new scenario on the U.S. market, which currently consumes more than 16% of wine in the world (France 15%, Italy 13%, Germany 12%).