The Wine Group

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The Wine Group, known for its Franzia "wine in a box," is the world's third-largest wine company, by volume, behind Constellation Brands and the E&J Gallo Winery. The company was founded in 1981 with a management buyout of the wine assets of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of New York. Its origins are in the Franzia Brothers winery in California, which had been sold to the bottler.

In addition to Franzia, The Wine Group produces the Concannon brand of wines, as well as brands including Casarsa (an Italian wine), Corbett Canyon, Fish Eye, Foxhorn, Austin Vale, Glen Ellen, Mogen David (kosher), Morassutti (Italian) and Tribuno. Several premium wine-producing ventures in Chile, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand have recently become operational.

The company has one of the most efficient business models in the industry and was named Winery of the Year at the 2005 Unified Wine and Grape Symposium in Sacramento, California. About 10,000 industry leaders and more than 500 vendors representing growers, vintners and allied industry members gathered at that meeting.

Key personnel as of 2005 were Chairman Art Ciocca, CEO David Kent, COO Ken Lizar and VP Treasurer/Controller David Johnson. An interview with Art Ciocca is found at the USF MBA Podcast.

In September 2006, TWG signed a strategic partnership with GCF Groupe (the leading wine exporter in France and the world's No. 4 wine producer) to further its products in Europe. It also acquired the Cardinal Zin and Big House brands from Bonny Doon Vineyard [1].

In January 2008, TWG announced that it would purchase Almaden Vineyards, Inglenook Winery and the Paul Masson winery in Madera, California from Constellation Brands Inc. for $134 million in cash.