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Bookwalter Wines Names Maritime Wine Trading Collective North American Sales and Marketing Agent

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Maritime Acquires 50 percent Stake in Notebook Wines

John Bookwalter
John Bookwalter

SAN FRANCISCO, March 12, 2015 – Maritime Wine Trading Collective today announced that it has been named the North American sales and marketing agent for J. Bookwalter Wines, a 30,000-case winery located in Richland, Wash.

With the arrangement, Maritime will be responsible for all of the winery’s sales and marketing efforts in the United States and Canada.

Additionally, the companies announced that they have created a joint venture with J. Bookwalter’s popular Notebook line of wine, with Maritime acquiring a 50-percent stake in the Notebook label. J. Bookwalter currently produces about 10,000 cases under the Notebook label, primarily a red blend. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

J. Bookwalter Winery has a rich history of producing exceptional wines from some of Washington State’s finest vineyards.  The winery, founded in 1983 by legendary grape grower Jerry Bookwalter, currently is owned and operated by Jerry’s son John Bookwalter.  The winemaking efforts are led by head winemaker and general manager Caleb Foster.

The winery focuses its efforts on high-quality, small production wines in a literary-themed portfolio that includes Couplet, Subplot, Foreshadow, Conflict and Protagonist wines. (For information, please see www.bookwalterwines.com).

“The Bookwalters are certainly one of the first families of Washington viticulture. John’s father, Jerry, was farming in the state in the 1970s,” Maritime CEO Christopher Nickolopoulos said. “As it happens, I’ve known John for almost two decades as I worked with him in the Chicago market when I was the portfolio manager at a local distributor.”

Chris continues: “Partnering with J. Bookwalter is consistent with our fundamental portfolio philosophy which is to identify great producers within a wine producing region. In the Pacific Northwest, J. Bookwalter is definitely one of them.”

“Our partnership with Maritime will enable us to be more strategic in channel sales and increase our volume and profitability,” John Bookwalter said. “They have a national sales force that will put a focus on our wines with our wholesale partners by acting as an extension of our brand.”

J. Bookwalter wines are available nationally at fine wine stores and restaurants.

About Maritime Wine Trading Collective

Founded in 2009 by Chris Nickolopoulos and Elijah Pfister, the company has a diverse portfolio of wines from Portugal, Spain, Turkey, South Africa, New Zealand and Italy as well as small production, sub-appellation offerings from California and Washington. Maritime is a Bacchus Capital Management portfolio company. For more information, visit www.maritimewine.com

About Bacchus Capital Management

Bacchus Capital Management is an investment firm providing strategic capital and making equity investments in United States wineries and wine businesses. Current Bacchus portfolio companies are DeLille Cellars, Madrigal Family Winery, Maritime Wine Trading Collective, Panther Creek Cellars, Sbragia Family Vineyards, Dobbes Family Estate / Wine by Joe.  Prior Bacchus portfolio companies are Andretti Winery, Cameron Hughes Wine, and Qupé. For more information, visit www.bacchuswinefund.com

About J. Bookwalter

J. Bookwalter specializes in producing some of Washington’s finest wines through meticulous winemaking and exceptional vineyard sources. The winery’s tasting room in Richland includes a full-service restaurant, Fiction, and was named one of the best tasting rooms in the United States by Sunset magazine. J. Bookwalter also has a tasting studio in Woodinville, Wash., near Seattle. For information about J. Bookwalter Winery, please see www.bookwalterwines.com.

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