SONOMA, Calif., March 11, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- V2 Wine Group of Sonoma, California and Viña Morandé, Santiago, Chile are proud to announce a long-term agreement between the two companies effective immediately. Under the terms of the agreement V2 Wine Group has the exclusive rights to distribute Chile's Viña Morandé wines in the United States. V2 Wine Group is importing the Pionero ($10+), Reserva ($13-$15) and Gran Reserva ($20-$23) tiers of The Viña Morandé portfolio.
"We are thrilled to reach another milestone by representing our first South American winery in partnership with the Yarur family. Viña Morandé's commitment to the US wine market and its strategically positioned Premium+ portfolio make this a natural fit," said Dan Leese, President of V2 Wine Group. "After an exhaustive three year search for the ideal Chilean winery and based on the combination of their commitment to quality, marketing investment, and long-term view of the business, we knew we found that perfect partner in Morandé."
"The USA is the #1 destination for Chilean bottled wine, an attractive yet challenging market with great potential for long term development of the brand. We are re-focusing our efforts on our brand with a new image and new winemaking concepts, unique to Morandé, which will captivate the American wine consumer," remarked, Carlos Spoerer, Export Director for Viña Morandé. "Our objective is to deliver the truest expression of Chile in every single bottle that we produce."
With the addition of Viña Morandé, V2 Wine Group now partners with seven premium and luxury wine families in the US marketplace. The company's portfolio, which includes wines that V2 Wine Group produces as well as family-owned wineries with which it has sales and marketing agreements, has grown tremendously since Dan and Katy Leese and Pete and Terri Kight founded it in 2010. V2 Wine Group services all classes of trade and specializes primarily in wines priced from $15 - $100 per bottle.
"Viña Morandé has had an outstanding track record of success and is recognized for their world-class wines across the globe," stated Scott Ericson, Senior Vice President of Sales of V2 Wine Group. "Their success lies in a never-ending journey to innovate and improve quality under the direction of winemaker Ricardo Baettig."
"Acknowledging the challenging US wine market, we needed to partner with a company such as V2 Wine Group. A family-owned company with a long term vision and a highly experienced team that is committed to their brands' success." stated Matías Elton, CEO of Viña Morandé. "Our partnership with V2 Wine Group allows us to invest and support V2 and its distributors with a long term strategy that will lead Morandé to become the exemplar Chilean wine in the US market – a key milestone in our winery's history."
Viña Morandé was founded in 1996 with the aim of producing innovative wines that demonstrate the true expression of Chile's terroir. Morandé achieves this by finding the optimal micro-terroir for each varietal through decades of Chilean micro-climate and soil examination and adapting their vine growing techniques to its location to obtain grapes of the highest quality. Morandé is widely distributed across the globe, currently in over 45 different countries across 5 continents. Viña Morandé currently produces wines under 6 different tiers showcasing Chile's diverse micro-climates and varietals: Pionero, Reserva, Gran Reserva, Edicion Limitada, Edicion Limitada Black and Late Harvest.
V2 is a wine producer and provides sales and marketing services to a limited group of family owned wineries. With a wine portfolio that includes Bouchaine Vineyards, Cameron Hughes, Dry Creek Vineyard, Hedges Family Estate, La Follette Wines, Lake Sonoma Winery, Lucinda & Millie Vineyards, Quivira Vineyards, Steelhead Vineyards, Toad Hollow Vineyards, Torbreck Wines, Valley of the Moon Winery and Vindicated Wines. V2 is dedicated to building strong, innovative wine brands in the North American marketplace. Founded in 2010, the company is a partnership between wine industry veterans Dan and Katy Leese and entrepreneurs Pete and Terri Kight.