Italian Largest Prosecco Growing Cooperative Acquires a Stake in Clara C '

CONEGLIANO-VALDOBBIADENE, Italy, Jan. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cantina Produttori di Valdobbiadene s.a.c., the leading wine-growing cooperative in the Prosecco industry, with 580 shareholders and 714 hectares of vineyards, has negotiated an agreement to acquire a stake in the capital of Cantinae Clara C di Clara Carpene s.a.s., the company founded by Clara Carpene in the Premium & Luxury Sparkling Prosecco segment.

While already distributing its main brands Clara C ', Fiori di Prosecco, Donnaclara, Feminine Prosecco, and Fiori Rose, in many European countries, the company now intends to expand to new key markets over the next three years, with a focus on the USA.

The agreement will allow the company to take advantage of Cantina Produttori di Valdobbiadene's wine-growing capacity, facilities and Cuvees, in addition to exploration of new common production initiatives for the bottling area of Valdobbiadene currently owned by Mrs. Carpene's family.  

The distribution platform, sales network, the marketing and brand management and the oenological strategy will remain separate and under the current management.

"The production scale, the highly valued oenological skills and the quality of the territory represented by the Cantina Produttori di Valdobbiadene members," says Clara Carpene, "are key business elements that cannot be reproduced by our competition and they are in perfect harmony with our marketing and industrial strategy and the long-term goals of our Valdobbiadene initiative. We have a vision of fresh, young sparkling wines with prominent and excellent brands, and now a large-scale production capacity that makes us confident in the development of our product lines in the potentially rich USA market which is still in its infancy."

"This investment," explains Aldo Franchi, Managing Director of Cantina Produttori, "is in line with our strategy of working more and more with products from the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene area and with high-end brands in the premium and super-premium product range, seeking out new market niches through special selections and processing techniques."

European press clips: http://clarac.it/pressclips.pdf

Full press material: http://clarac.it/pressmaterial.pdf  

Cantina Produttori di Valdobbiadene s.a.c., with 35.5 million US dollars in sales, is the most important wine-growing and producing cooperative in the Prosecco industry. With its 580 shareholders and 714 hectares of vineyards, it is also one of the leading Italian wine cooperatives. It is present in 30 countries and is a leader in both the Italian and European markets.

Cantinae Clara C di Clara Carpene s.a.s. is the premium brand winery founded by Clara Carpene in the world of Prosecco sparkling wines. With a new production area just outside of Valdobbiadene and with a market that is 90% abroad, the company controls the brands Clara C ', Fiori di Prosecco, Donnaclara, Feminine Prosecco and Fiori Rose.

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SOURCE Cantinae Clara C di Clara Carpene s.a.s.