Pleased to share this announcement – Paddington Corp Merges with Pelican Brands forming Paddington Brands, LLC

The Paddington Corp Announces Merger With Pelican Brands

Indianapolis, IN USA – June 23, 2011 – The Paddington Corporation today announced the completion of a merger with Pelican Brands, LLC.  The combined company will be known as Paddington Brands, LLC.  Paddington is based in Carmel, IN and also has offices in Napa, CA and 3^rd party warehousing in NJ and CA. Paddington owns Tequila 3 Amigos, the Napa Smith Brewery & Winery, and is the exclusive Importer and U.S. sales agent for a prestigious portfolio of wine and spirit brands.

Since January, Paddington, through outside investors, has injected nearly $1 million into the business to expand Napa Smith Beer and Tequila 3 Amigos in multiple markets throughout the US.  The Company is committed to rolling out both brands nationally in 2011.

J. Smoke Wallin, Chairman & CEO of Paddington Brands said, “Paddington understands what today’s consumer wants– authentic, hand crafted brands with a great taste.  Our team has deep industry knowledge of the distribution and retail tiers of the business providing a rapid national route-to-market in all segments of beverage alcohol.”

Our Brands

• Napa Smith Brewery & Winery: Napa Smith Beer, now available in 32 states, is a unique brand that brings the best of Napa Valley in quality and lifestyle to the fastest growing segment of the beverage industry, Craft Beer.  Our brew master, Don Barkley, has been brewing amazing craft beers since 1979. Napa Smith Winery has produced award-winning wines in the past three years and is sold primarily in the Western U.S.
• Tequila 3 Amigos: Paddington’s partner in Tequila 3 Amigos is the Gonzalez family of Arizona and Mexico, where they have grown agave for generations. Paddington has announced partnerships for  Tequila 3 Amigos with major NASCAR venues including Talladega, Phoenix International Raceway, California’s Auto Club Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Kansas, and Michigan International Speedways.  Tequila 3 Amigos has had three named races in the past year including the 3 Amigos Tequila Talladega 250 ARCA race in April. The Company expects Tequila 3 Amigos to be distributed in over 25 states by year-end.
• Chase Distillery: Paddington also imports the Herefordshire, UK-based Chase Distillery’s Chase Vodka and Elderflower Liqueur and has launched it in ten states in the U.S..
• Paddington Wines: Since January 2011, Paddington has sold Agostón Wines from Spain into 4,085 Walgreens stores in thirty-one states. Agostón has also consistently received 90+ points in the Penin Wine Rating Guide.  Paddington Brands also represents: Calatrasi from Italy, award-winning Gemtree from McLaren Vale Australia, and Brent Marris’s newest venture, Marisco Wines – The Kings Series and The Ned.

Wallin continued, “The new Paddington Brands is an exciting company that aligns an extremely talented group of industry leaders with explosive growth brands. We plan to build on our momentum as a brand investor and incubator.  We are also continuing to selectively and opportunistically make acquisitions providing us additional scale.”

About Paddington

The Paddington Corp. was built upon a rich tradition of some of the industry’s greatest brands.  In 1937, Charles Guttman founded the original Paddington Corporation, which became the exclusive importer of Justerini & Brooks Ltd. (J&B) scotch, and a very successful creator of brands including Bailey’s Irish Cream.  Paddington was acquired by several large conglomerates in the 1960s – 1980s and eventually became a division of Diageo, the worlds largest spirits company.  Diageo later folded the Paddington entity into its larger North American sales force and it has remained dormant until now.  The new Paddington Brands, LLC, though a completely independent and unaffiliated company, draws on this rich tradition of building brands over the long term that Charles Guttman started so many years ago.

Paddington is headquartered in Carmel, IN, with offices in the United Kingdom and Napa, CA and a sales team covering the U.S. market and select international markets. Paddington is actively seeking acquisitions in the wine, spirits, beer and non-alcoholic beverage space.   Follow us on Facebook http://on.fb.me/afmdBU and on Twitter @paddingtonbrands and on the web at www.paddingtonbrands.com

Pelican Brands Will Import La Piazza And Allora Brands, Crafted By The Mineo Family In Collaboration With Calatrasi

Carmel, IN, USA – November 10^th, 2010 – Pelican Brands, Calatrasi, and the Mineo Family announced today the formation of a long-term strategic partnership for the U.S. market.

The Mineo Family represents the alliance between Calatrasi, a leading Italian wine producer, and 500 individual Sicilian growers.  Italian wine is the number one imported wine category in the US.

Calatrasi produces nearly one million cases of wine annually and controls more than 1,100 hectares (2,700) acres in Sicily, Puglia and Tunisia.  Over the last 10 years, Calatrasi has reinvested over $14 million on improvements to the quality and value of their wines.  In 1998 Calatrasi created the D’istinto brand in co – ownership with BRL Hardy; the project achieved 300,000 cases in UK, becoming the number one Italian brand in UK.

Pelican Brands, Calatrasi and the Mineo Family announce their long-term strategic partnership with two co-owned brands, La Piazza and Allora. These wines are crafted from grapes grown in the Sicilian hills by the individual growers, who bring the harvest to Calatrasi winery to make the best wines from that region.  The La Piazza brand will also be launching a Pinot Grigio from the Veneto in early 2011.

Maurizio Miccichè , Owner of Calatrasi and founder of Mineo family Vineyards said, “We have been looking for some time  at the various options for entering the U.S. market. Our patience has paid off, as we have found our long-term partner in Pelican Brands.  We share Pelican Brands passion, energy, innovation spirit and long-term commitment to quality.”

J. Smoke Wallin, Chairman & CEO of Pelican Brands said, “Maurizio and I instantly connected with our shared passion for the wine business and vision for the future.  Calatrasi and Mineo are the perfect partners as we build out our wine platform in the U.S. market.”

La Piazza wines are fresh and rich wines that go well with any dish. The range includes 2 white wines, a blend of Catarratto (an indigenous grape varietal of Sicily) and Chardonnay, a Pinot Grigio and a red wine, which is a blend of Merlot and Nero d’Avola (an indigenous grape varietal of Sicily).

The Allora wines feature full-body, solid structure, fully represent the terroir of the Mediterranean area. The Allora range includes Viognier, Grillo (indigenous grape varietal) and Nero d’Avola from Sicily and Primitivo (Zinfandel) wine from Salento.

Franco Bernabei, Chief Winemaker of Calatrasi and Mineo Family Vineyards

Franco Bernabei has 30 years of winemaking experience in Italy, as winemaker for some of Italy’s most prestigious estates in Tuscany and Veneto. Over the years he has earned major awards and high praise from Robert Parker to the Wine Spectator.  He said about the new partnership “I believe that our wines will be a success in the U.S. market because they are crafted with the U.S. wine consumer’s palate in mind.”

“We have already tasted over 50 national chain buyers, prior to launch, on La Piazza and Allora to great acclaim.  Their response has been tremendous, giving us a strong sense of urgency to get these wines into the U.S.”  Arthur Massolo, EVP of Business Development for Pelican Brands

In the near future, Pelican Brands, Calatrasi and Mineo Family will launch a Super Premium brand for the On and Off- trade.

Maurizio Ghiori, CEO and Managing Director of Calatrasi and creator of Mineo Family Vineyards, said, “I strongly believe in the project and I think that Pelican Brands is the ideal partner for us. I believe that Calatrasi, Mineo Family and Pelican Brands will have great success in the U.S. market with La Piazza and the Allora brands.”

NOTE:  Posted last month, we are very excited with our partnership with Maurizio and the whole Calatrasi team.  These wines are an amazing value and in this market will out perform many long established brands.

Pelican Brands will Import and Drive the National Rollout of Barking Sheep Wines from Argentina, the first Brand to be Launched Under this Agreement

Carmel, IN, USA – December 20, 2010 – Pelican Brands and Schwartz Olcott Imports, LLC (SOI Wines) jointly announced today the formation of a long term strategic agreement to launch Barking Sheep wines from Argentina following a successful limited test market in 19 states.

Barking Sheep wines are produced in Mendoza, Argentina, and are styled for the U.S. market. The launch will include a beautiful classic Malbec and a fresh clean fruity Chardonnay.

Barking Sheep wines are produced at Las Perdices by chief winemaker Carlos Muñoz, from high altitude vineyards 1,000 meters above sea level towards the Andes Mountains producing full bodied classical fruit.

During a one year limited test market at a major national chain Barking Sheep was the #1 red wine of all new featured red wines.

Norman Schwartz, Co-Founder & Chairman of SOI Wines said, “There are many fine importers who do a great job with established brands; however, without brand builders like Smoke Wallin and the Pelican team it’s impossible to build a national brand franchise.  With Pelican sharing our enthusiasm for Barking Sheep we are well positioned to rollout nationally and to launch other brands together”

J. Smoke Wallin, Chairman & CEO of Pelican Brands said “The Barking Sheep brand further expands the Pelican Brands wine platform to Argentina.  These wines offer the consumer great value with a fun attitude.  We have high expectations for their national rollout.”  Wallin continued, “Norman has created some incredible brands over the years.  We are very excited to begin our long term strategic partnership with The Barking Sheep brand.”


NOTE: I’m very excited to be working with Norman and the team.  Look for more exciting developments as we pool our resources!… Smoke