DISTILLERIE STOCK EXPANDS TO FINE WINES

DISTILLERIE STOCK EXPANDS TO FINE WINES


David J. Morel, President announced the formation of a new division of Distillerie STOCK U.S.A., Ltd., to expand into fine wines. The wholly-owned subsidiary, The House of STOCK Fine Wines will initially concentrate on Italian wines, but plans to eventually import wines from other countries as well. Mark C. Tramont has been named Director of Wine for the new division. Mark was previously the National Sales Director for Distillerie Stock. He brings a wealth of experience in the wine and spirits industry having worked on the wholesale, producer and supplier sides of the business over his 23-year career.

Distillerie Stock's first foray into wine was the introduction of Koala Blue wines in Fall 2002. The value priced Shiraz and Chardonnay from long time friends and business partners Olivia Newton-John and Pat Farrar are distributed nationally. "Distillerie Stock has strong relationships with distributors nationwide,' said Tom Conte, Vice President, National Sales Manager. "After our success with the launch of Koala Blue, along with the tremendous success that we and our distributor partners have enjoyed with our entire portfolio, especially GranGala Triple Orange Liqueur, we decided to take full advantage of that momentum. This has led us to expand our portfolio to include fine wines, and to establish a separate division to handle this expansion. Even though our first success has come from Australia, it seemed only natural to go back to our Italian roots for this expansion.'

Stock S.p.A. was established in 1884 in Trieste, Italy. Distillerie STOCK U.S.A., Ltd, is the exclusive importer of Stock Vermouth, Stock 84 Brandy and an entire range of fine liqueurs.

Photo available upon request.