Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits confirms Eppa SuperFruit Sangria acquisition

Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits has followed last month’s announcement of the launch of Yellow Tail sangria with the acquisition of Eppa SuperFruit Sangria.

Deutsch has bought the brand, which is the world’s first premium sangria made with organic grapes and super fruit juices, from Miami-based Eppa Wine Company for an undisclosed sum.

Bill Deutsch, chairman and founder of Deutsch Family Wine & Spirit, said: “During my 53 years in the wine business I’ve seen a lot of changes as the demographics of the everyday wine consumer evolves, but the birth of a premium sangria is one of the most exciting and offers huge potential.

“While it’s always been popular in the on-premise market, there’s a big opportunity to make a stronger impact off-premise with premium quality ready-to-serve sangrias.”

Over the past year the premium sangria market has grown 19.4% in volume in the US and in a statement about the acquisition Deutsch said that “Eppa alone contributed 26% of the category’s growth.”

Eppa co-founder John Gomez said: “Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits is the perfect organisation to take Eppa to new consumers and new heights. The strong leadership, capabilities and values of the company were a perfect fit for us.”

Eppa Superfruit Sangria is made in Mendocino, California from certified organically-grown grapes and a blend of organic superfruit juices including pomegranate, blueberry, blood orange and acai. As a result, it’s antioxidant rich with two times the antioxidants compared to a glass of red wine.

Tom Steffanci, the president of Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits, said: “There is nothing that tastes quite like Eppa sangria in the market today. The addition of real organic fruit juice creates a unique flavour combination that is delicious, and people love that it tastes like homemade sangria. You can literally taste the slices of fruit in each glass, it’s that good.

“The future is very bright. In the few markets where it has already launched, Eppa has enjoyed tremendous success, even outselling some top wine brands in the marketplace. We commend the Eppa team for achieving such great success with the brand so far. We are excited to build on this momentum and take the brand to even greater heights.”

Eppa SuperFruit Sangria is available in 750 ml with a suggested retail price of US$11.99.