KENDALL JACKSON LAUNCHES MILLENNIAL DIVISION

While it’s still somewhat of a new concept, wine companies are beginning to take the necessary actions to market to millennial drinkers, an age group that was once dominated by beer companies. Today’s millennials (21-30) are the fast growing wine consumption demographic. As a result, many in the industry have attributed the surge in U.S. wine consumption to millennials, leading wine companies to rethink the direction of their marketing dollars. The Wine Group, for example, recently launched its Underdog Wine Merchants division which solely markets to younger drinkers, and now Kendall Jackson has launched a similar endeavor.

Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke formally announced their latest addition, the White Rocket Wine Company, which will focus on creating new wine brands for the upcoming generations of wine consumers. White Rocket’s portfolio will include some existing brands – such as Camelot, Dog House and Tin Roof – and will also create new brands in the future.

“It has been my desire for quite some time to go back to our roots,” says Jackson. “We want to start from scratch to create brands that serve the new wine consumers of the millennial generation. White Rocket will be a small, fast moving wine company that fosters an entrepreneurial culture and a drive for innovation and new brand development.”

Gary Glass will serve as president of White Rocket, coming from Centerra Wine Company (a division of Constellation wines) where he was vp of marketing. Mark Feinberg, formerly with Seagram Chateau & Estate Wines Company, was appointed vp of marketing.

“This company is a very exciting place to be,” said Glass.