Pernod Ricard Confirms Completion of U.S. Mumm Sparkling Wine Disposal
Pernod Ricard has officially confirmed the successful completion of its previously announced disposal of Mumm sparkling wine activities in the United States. This move follows the satisfaction of all closing conditions and aligns with the company’s earlier press release issued on December 16, 2025. The completed transaction marks another strategic step in Pernod Ricard’s ongoing efforts to reshape its wine and spirits portfolio, ensuring a sharper focus on premium and high-growth brand categories.
The disposal covers Pernod Ricard’s Mumm sparkling wine operations in the U.S., excluding champagne-related activities. Included in the deal are well-recognized brands such as Mumm Sparkling California, Mumm Napa, and DVX. These brands and operations have now been transferred to Trinchero Family Wine and Spirits, a major player in the American wine market.
This divestment highlights Pernod Ricard’s commitment to simplifying its portfolio and shifting resources toward areas where it sees stronger long-term profitability and brand expansion potential. By stepping away from selected wine operations, the company is positioning itself to strengthen its premium spirits and champagne offerings, which remain key pillars of its global growth strategy.
Transaction Includes Major Mumm Sparkling Brands
The Mumm sparkling wine activities sold to Trinchero Family Wine and Spirits represent a significant segment of Pernod Ricard’s U.S. wine footprint. Mumm Sparkling California and Mumm Napa have long been associated with American sparkling wine production, offering a range of products aimed at consumers seeking quality sparkling wines at accessible price points.
DVX, another brand included in the sale, further expands the scope of the transaction by transferring additional sparkling wine assets. Together, these operations contributed to Pernod Ricard’s presence in California’s wine industry, particularly within the sparkling wine category outside of champagne.
The exclusion of champagne from the transaction is a key detail. Pernod Ricard remains strongly committed to its champagne portfolio, a segment where the company holds premium international brands and sees continued global demand. Champagne continues to be a strategic product category for Pernod Ricard, particularly in premium celebrations and luxury markets.
By separating sparkling wine operations from champagne, Pernod Ricard is reinforcing its emphasis on high-end heritage categories that offer stronger global brand equity and long-term pricing power.
Trinchero Family Wine and Spirits Strengthens Its Sparkling Wine Position
For Trinchero Family Wine and Spirits, the acquisition represents a valuable opportunity to expand its portfolio with established sparkling wine labels. Trinchero has built a strong reputation as one of the largest family-owned wine companies in the United States, with a long history of wine production, brand development, and distribution.
With the addition of Mumm Sparkling California, Mumm Napa, and DVX, Trinchero is gaining access to a recognized sparkling wine platform with strong consumer awareness. The brands carry significant value in the U.S. market, where demand for sparkling wine has remained resilient and continues to grow, especially in casual and lifestyle-driven consumption occasions.
The transaction is expected to help Trinchero broaden its reach in the sparkling wine category and strengthen its competitive position against other major producers. By acquiring assets that already have established production capabilities and consumer familiarity, Trinchero may be able to accelerate growth without having to build brand recognition from scratch.
Pernod Ricard Completes Separate Sale of Kenwood Winery Operations
Alongside the disposal of its Mumm sparkling wine activities, Pernod Ricard has also finalized another major transaction involving its California wine assets. The company confirmed that it has successfully completed the sale of its Kenwood winery operations located in Sonoma, California.
The Kenwood winery, known for producing a wide variety of premium wines from Sonoma County, has been sold to F. Korbel & Bros. This deal includes the winery’s operational assets as well as associated trademarks, further marking Pernod Ricard’s withdrawal from specific U.S.-based wine operations.
Kenwood is a well-established name in American wine circles and has built a reputation for producing award-winning wines, primarily distributed throughout the U.S. market. Its focus on premium Sonoma wines has made it a respected label among wine consumers seeking quality varietals with strong regional character.
This transaction reflects Pernod Ricard’s broader plan to streamline its wine portfolio while ensuring that its assets transition to owners who can continue building and supporting the brands effectively.
F. Korbel & Bros Expands Its Sonoma Footprint
The sale of Kenwood winery operations to F. Korbel & Bros represents a major addition to Korbel’s wine assets in California. Korbel is widely recognized as the leading California sparkling wine producer and carries significant heritage in the American wine industry. The company has been established since 1882, making it one of the oldest and most historically influential sparkling wine producers in the region.
By acquiring Kenwood, Korbel gains a strong Sonoma wine brand that complements its existing portfolio. This acquisition allows Korbel to diversify further beyond sparkling wine into premium still wines while also increasing its presence in the Sonoma wine region, which is known globally for high-quality production.
For Korbel, Kenwood offers an established reputation and infrastructure that can be leveraged for future growth. The acquisition may strengthen Korbel’s competitive positioning in premium wine categories while reinforcing its long-standing commitment to California wine heritage.
Sale Includes Vineyards, Facilities, and Visitor Centre
One of the most notable aspects of the Kenwood transaction is that it includes physical assets beyond just trademarks and wine branding. The agreement involves the sale of approximately 20 acres of high-quality vineyards, providing Korbel with direct vineyard ownership and access to premium grapes.
In addition, the deal includes Kenwood’s production facilities, which support the winery’s operational capabilities and enable continued production at scale. This ensures that the winery can maintain consistent output while also providing Korbel with flexibility to develop new wine products and expand offerings.
The Kenwood visitor centre is also part of the sale. Wine tourism plays an increasingly important role in brand-building and customer engagement, especially in iconic wine regions such as Sonoma. A visitor centre provides a strong opportunity for direct-to-consumer engagement, tastings, events, and premium experiences that can enhance brand loyalty and revenue streams.
By including these assets, the transaction ensures that Kenwood remains positioned as a fully functioning winery operation rather than simply a brand transfer.
Pernod Ricard Strengthens Focus on Premium Spirits and Champagne
These transactions represent a strategic redirection for Pernod Ricard. The company has made it clear that it intends to continue focusing its resources on premium international spirits and champagne brands. This direction aligns with Pernod Ricard’s global market position as one of the world’s leading spirits companies, with a strong portfolio of internationally recognized names.
Premium spirits and champagne generally offer stronger profit margins and more consistent global growth potential compared to many traditional wine categories. Consumer demand worldwide has increasingly shifted toward premiumization, where customers prefer higher-quality brands and are willing to pay more for products that offer authenticity, heritage, and status.
Pernod Ricard has positioned itself strongly within this trend, making premium spirits and champagne a natural priority. By divesting selected wine assets, the company can allocate investment, marketing resources, and operational attention to categories where it sees higher returns and long-term expansion opportunities.
Alignment With Previous International Wine Divestment
The company’s decision to dispose of these U.S. wine operations also reflects a continuation of earlier restructuring steps. Pernod Ricard previously announced the divestment of its strategic international wines in April 2025. The current transactions reinforce that approach, demonstrating a consistent portfolio strategy rather than an isolated decision.
By gradually exiting certain wine categories and geographies, Pernod Ricard is simplifying its overall operational structure. This makes the business easier to manage, reduces complexity in supply chains, and enables the company to focus on fewer but stronger global brands.
This approach also allows Pernod Ricard to reduce exposure to segments where competition is intense and brand differentiation is more difficult. In contrast, premium spirits and champagne offer higher barriers to entry, stronger heritage narratives, and global consumer recognition.
Streamlining Wine Operations in California
Both the Mumm sparkling wine disposal and the Kenwood sale contribute to Pernod Ricard’s goal of streamlining its wine operational footprint in California. California remains one of the most significant wine-producing regions in the world, but it is also highly competitive and operationally complex.
Maintaining large-scale wine operations requires substantial investment in vineyards, facilities, logistics, and distribution partnerships. It also requires navigating climate variability, harvest risks, and evolving consumer preferences.
By reducing its footprint in California wine, Pernod Ricard can reduce operational demands and concentrate on its strongest strategic categories. This move also signals a shift toward global brand management rather than region-specific wine production.
At the same time, the assets have been transferred to wine-focused organizations that are well-positioned to manage and grow them. Trinchero and Korbel both have strong expertise in California wine operations, suggesting that these brands may continue to thrive under their new ownership.
Active Portfolio Management as a Long-Term Strategy
Pernod Ricard emphasized that these transactions reflect its ongoing evaluation of strategic opportunities and its active approach to portfolio management. This is consistent with the company’s long-standing strategy of continuously reviewing its brand portfolio and making decisions based on growth potential, market positioning, and shareholder value.
Rather than maintaining a static set of assets, Pernod Ricard has adopted a model that allows it to evolve with market trends. When consumer preferences shift, or when certain categories no longer align with long-term priorities, the company is willing to divest, restructure, or reinvest accordingly.
This approach allows Pernod Ricard to remain agile in a competitive global beverage market. It also supports a more focused investment strategy, ensuring that resources are directed toward brands with strong international growth momentum.
Supporting Sustainable Value for Stakeholders
The company also highlighted that these decisions are designed to deliver sustainable value not only for shareholders, but also for employees, clients, and partners. This reflects the broader business principle that long-term success depends on maintaining strong stakeholder relationships and ensuring operational stability.
By transferring assets to companies with expertise in wine operations, Pernod Ricard may help ensure continuity for employees working within these wineries and related facilities. At the same time, clients and distribution partners may benefit from the stability and focus of new ownership that specializes in the wine category.
From an investor perspective, these transactions demonstrate disciplined capital allocation and a clear strategic direction. Streamlining operations and focusing on premium categories can strengthen profitability, improve brand investment efficiency, and enhance long-term financial performance.
A Clearer Direction for Pernod Ricard’s Future Growth
The completion of these transactions marks another step in Pernod Ricard’s transformation into a more streamlined premium spirits and champagne-focused group. By divesting U.S. sparkling wine brands such as Mumm Sparkling California, Mumm Napa, and DVX, and by selling Kenwood winery operations to Korbel, the company is reducing its involvement in segments that no longer fit its core strategic priorities.
These moves align with Pernod Ricard’s previously announced international wine divestments and reinforce the company’s long-term commitment to premiumization and portfolio simplification.
With fewer wine assets to manage, Pernod Ricard can now dedicate more attention and investment toward strengthening its global spirits and champagne leadership. As consumer demand continues to shift toward premium brands and experiences, this strategy positions Pernod Ricard to remain competitive, resilient, and growth-driven in the evolving global beverage market.
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