Buyout Will Force Christian Bros. to Fire 65% of Workers, Sources Say

About 65% of the employees of the Christian Bros. will be fired in the wake of the June 30 acquisition of the firm by Heublein Inc., a U.S. wine subsidiary of Grand Metropolitan PLC of England, it has been learned.

Sources said the restructuring of the U.S. wine operations of Heublein Inc. is aimed at consolidating facilities and staffs.

One source said that of 300 employees of the Christian Bros., fewer than 100 will remain after terminations are completed in December. Some employees will be cashiered as early as Sept. 30, it was learned.

“When the smoke clears, I’d guess there will be less than 50 salaried employees left in the company,” said one former employee, who added that another 40 or so union employees also may remain. The source said only four of 51 sales employees of the Christian Bros. were offered jobs with Heublein.

A few sales employees from the firm’s headquarters in Farmington, Conn., will be moved to the new Napa Valley office, the company announced.

The Napa Valley office will be headed by Richard L. Maher, former president of the Christian Bros. Sales Co., who will head Heublein’s Fine Wines Division and will oversee operation of Inglenook Vineyards, Beaulieu Vineyard and the Christian Bros. as well as fine wine imports, the company announced.

Heublein’s Fine Wines Division will move to St. Helena from Alameda, Calif., said Erik Pierce, vice president for public relations for Heublein.

Maher will assume most of the duties of Rouben Chakalian, senior vice president, who is retiring, said Pierce. Pierce said Maher’s formal title hadn’t yet been announced.

Another source said Dennis Fife would remain president of Inglenook and Tom Selfridge will remain president of Beaulieu, though neither Selfridge nor Fife would comment on that move.

It was also learned that wine-making at the Christian Bros. facility at Reedley in the San Joaquin Valley will be terminated (brandy will still be produced there). All wine making activities at Reedley are to be transferred to Heublein facilities at Madera.

Pierce said the moves “are not a major restructuring of the Fine Wines Division. Pierce added that he was retiring before the end of the year in what he said was a completely unrelated move. He will be replaced by Peter Seremet, who will remain in Farmington.

A source said he had learned that Ron Batori, longtime head of public relations for the Christian Bros., will remain with the firm as a vice president in charge of public relations for all three Napa Valley brands.

Batori declined to comment on any restructuring, saying only that nothing had yet been finalized. Maher was in Connecticut in meetings and was unavailable for comment.

Inglenook continues to revamp its line of wines and is the winery behind the new Gustave Niebaum Collection, though you can’t tell from the label. The labels do not identify Inglenook as the producer.

The Niebaum wines, all well made, are vineyard-designated wines. They are the latest offerings from Inglenook and were made in a kind of “skunk works”--a small winery operating within the larger Napa Valley winery. However, the labels identify the producer of the wines simply as Gustave Niebaum Collection.

The idea of creating a “winery within a winery” isn’t new but it is growing. Recently, for example, Sebastiani created a small Estates Group division within its giant firm and released a number of Chardonnays and Cabernets with vineyard names as the names of the wines. The wines were made by wine maker Mary Sullivan.

The Inglenook/Niebaum project is headed by wine maker Judy Matulich-Weitz, and the wines are all good examples of the respective varieties. The 1988 Laird Chardonnay ($13.50), the better of two Chardonnays, offers delicate citrusy flavors and a creamy finish. The 1988 Bayview ($14.50) is a bit richer but still too young to see its potential.

Better still are two 1986 Cabernets from Niebaum, both outstanding examples of central Napa Valley fruit from a very good vintage.

It’s difficult to choose between the Mast Vineyard ($14.50) and the Tench Vineyard ($15.50). The former has more spiced, minty qualities; the latter has a chocolatey, rich element that makes it more immediately enjoyable. A third Cabernet, called Reference ($13.50) from the 1985 vintage, isn’t as appealing because of a more plump, full-bodied structure. Still, by itself it’s excellent.

The Niebaum wines are being offered in a unique 12-bottle wooden case that serves as an instant wine rack.

Inglenook, under its own name, also has a Claret as well as the famed Reunion wine.

Bidders paid $89,109 for 210 lots of wine at the KCBX Wine Auction last Saturday, setting a record for total receipts. The public radio station auction sold $65,000 in wine a year ago.

The most exciting lot of wine to be sold at the auction was the right to blend 12 cases of Wild Horse wine, any varietal. Wild Horse is famous for its Pinot Noirs.

The item went to Jack Daniels, co-owner of Wilson Daniels, the firm that markets Wild Horse wines. Other bidders had misgivings about missing out on the lot of wine, so Ken Volk, owner of Wild Horse, agreed to put up two additional lots at the same price.

They were bought by David Beaulieu of the Florida-based publication Wine News on behalf of a consortium of southern Florida buyers, and Marvin Zeidler, a Los Angeles wine collector, on behalf of a group of Los Angeles buyers.

Another top bid, $3,400, was paid for the right to blend 10 cases of Maison Deutz sparkling wine. It was bought by Andrew Lawlor, past chairman of this event, for Sofitel Hotels in San Francisco and Chicago.

The largest bid, $12,900, was by Tom Oliver of Fullerton for a package deal donated by American Airlines, the Paris restaurant Michel Rostang and wine collectors Tom Ash and Larry Shupnick.

Included are tickets to Paris for dinner at Michel Rostang, a luncheon at Chateau Palmer and a bottle of 1928 Chateau Palmer.

After that lot went for so much money, the donors offered another identical lot for auction, and that was won by Vicki Mazzei of San Luis Obispo for $10,500.

The event, coordinated by wine educator Archie McLaren and Shupnick, was staged at Shupnick’s San Luis Bay Inn.

McDowell Valley Vineyards in Mendocino County has announced production of a series of new blended wines made from traditional Rhone varieties. The wines collectively are called Les Vieux Cepages (French for “the old varietals”).

The first wines, 1988 Grenache (similar to a Tavel rose) and 1986 Le Tresor (a blend of Syrah and Grenache, grapes of the southern Rhone), were released in July. A 1986 Syrah will be released next spring.