Emperador expands vast vineyard in Spain

Emperador Inc., the country’s biggest liquor company, has expanded its vineyard in Spain, securing additional supply as it seeks to grow its market share, a stock exchange filing yesterday showed.

Emperador, through Grupo Emperador Spain S.A., has signed an agreement to acquire 230 hectares of land in Toledo. The land is adjacent to the Vinedos del Rio Tajo operated by Bodegas Las Copas, a 50-percent joint venture company between Emperador and González Byass.

The company intends to expand Vinedos del Rio Tajo, a vineyard beside River Tajo, the longest river in the Iberian peninsula.

“With Emperador Spain continuously looking out to acquire more vineyard land in Spain, we expect that out total vineyard property will reach close to 2,000 hectares by 2016,” Jorge B. Domecq, managing director of Emperador Spain, said in a statement.

He said the company hoped to achieve a yield capacity of 30,000 kilos per hectare against an average yield of around 6,500 kilos by the vineyard industry in Spain.

“This means that in every hectare of this vineyard, we will be able to harvest five times more wine grapes. This will very well support the raw material requirements for our brandy production,” Domecq said.

“With this total integration in our brandy production, we are in the best position to continue making Emperador the number one brandy in the world. That gives us the capacity to expand our global market,” he added.

Emperador president Winston Co said earlier that international sales, including the company’s 50-percent stake in Spanish brandy producer Bodega Las Copas S.L., could account for about 30 percent of profits by 2017.

The company’s overseas presence, in particular, is expected to grow faster after the acquisition of Scotch whiskey-maker Whyte & Mackay Group Ltd. for about £430 million.

The company earlier said gains across all its businesses would enable profit to hit P11.6 billion by 2017—double the earnings seen in 2013.

Bodega Las Copas runs full-scale operations at its vineyard near Toledo, as well as its distillery plant in Tomelloso, Ciudad Real and the Las Copas brandy production facility in Jerez.

It is part of the González Byass group, which was founded in 1835, and now one of the largest sherry, wine and brandy producers in Spain.