Beringer Blass Wine Estates

Pace University

DigitalCommons@Pace
Case Studies

Lubin School of Business

5-1-2004

The Globalization of Beringer Blass Wine Estates
Armand Gilinsky
Sonoma State University

Raymond H. Lopez
Pace University

Richard Castaldi
San Francisco State University

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Recommended Citation
Gilinsky, Armand; Lopez, Raymond H.; and Castaldi, Richard, "The Globalization of Beringer Blass Wine Estates" (2004). Case
Studies. Paper 5. http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/business_cases/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Lubin School of Business at DigitalCommons@Pace. It has been accepted for inclusion
Beringer’s History
In 1875 two German emigrants, Jacob and Frederick Beringer, purchased property in St.
Helena, California, for $14,500. During the following year, Jacob began working his new vineyards and started construction of a stone winery building. He employed Chinese laborers to build limestone-lined aging tunnels for his product. In 1880, Frederick opened a store and a wine cellar to accommodate the sale of wine in New York. The Beringer Brothers commenced an education and marketing program to introduce Napa Valley wine to the East Coast market. Their specialty, even in those early years, was premium table wines.
Beringer family members continuously owned the winery until 1971, when they sold it to the Nestlé Company, which renamed the Beringer subsidiary, “Wine World Estates.” Over the next 25 years, Nestlé hired management to implement an expansion strategy that included the purchase and development of extensive acreage positions in prime growing regions of Napa,
Sonoma, Lake, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties in California. Ownership of these vineyards enabled Wine World to control a source of high quality, premium wine grapes at
Michael Moone became CEO in 1984 and oversaw the operations of
Wine World. Moone pursued expansion through acquisitions and start-ups of new brands. In addition to the acquisition of Chateau Souverain, located in the Sonoma Valley, in 1986, Wine
World also launched a new brand, Napa Ridge. In 1988, Wine World’s Estrella River Winery in
Paso Robles was refurbished and renamed Meridian Vineyards. Results of these initiatives began to bear fruit by the late 1980s. New private reserve wines won accolades throughout the industry

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The Globalization of Beringer Blass Wine Estates

and, overall, wine quality rose rapidly. Wine World had thus begun the process of redefining itself as a top-quality producer, slowly but steadily shedding its prior image for making “ordinary wines.” In 1990, Moone relinquished his CEO position to Walter Klenz. Klenz had been hired by
Nestlé and joined Wine World in 1976, first working in marketing and then in financial operations. The Leveraged Buyout
In early 1996, Moone re-entered the market with a private company named Silverado
Partners. Moone and dealmaker David Bonderman, who headed the El Paso-based Texas