Following on from June’s move for Napa Valley’s Domaine Curry, the group confirmed last week that pinot noir specialist Sea Smoke will join its Aspira “fine wine and craft spirits” unit. Financial details about the transaction were not disclosed.
Included in the purchase are the company’s namesake pinot noir, chardonnay and blanc de noirs wines as well as its vineyards in the Santa Rita Hills AVA between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
“Sea Smoke further enhances our higher-end portfolio and supports our ambition to build a world-class portfolio of wines and spirits that meets the needs of our customers and consumers around the world,” said Constellation’s wine & spirits division president, Sam Glaetzer, in an internal memo. “This acquisition was made in conjunction with the divestment of some non-core assets.”
Speaking to Global Drinks Intel in March, the wine & spirits VP for EMEA, Taco Lucassen, provided some context for Constellation’s approach to acquisitions and divestments. “The interest to go for multi-billion-dollar acquisitions isn’t there anymore,” Lucassesn said. “We’ll always be on the lookout for what we call tuck-in M&A. We look at where we have gaps in our portfolio, be it a grape or a region, or what we see as fast-growing categories where we’re under-represented.
“We’ll either look at filling these organically or through an M&A piece.”
