Latitude Beverage, the company behind the popular wine brand 90+ Cellars, has launched a spirits division.
Joining its portfolio of wine brands, the company has released its first two spirits products — Steel Dust Vodka and Wheel Horse Rye — in more than 15 markets across the U.S., with plans for continued growth this year.
Steel Dust is Texas vodka that first hit the market in spring 2019 and sold more than 15,000 cases by the end of last year, the company says.
Wheel Horse is a Kentucky rye created in collaboration with O.Z. Tyler, a distillery in Owensboro, KY. The first batch of Wheel Horse Rye released in December 2019; the second batch is expected to hit shelves this summer.
Latitude Beverage will collaborate with O.Z. Tyler again this year on a bourbon, which will also come out under the Wheel Horse brand.
Expect new spirits in more categories to be added later this year, the company says.
Latitude’s VP of Marketing, Terry Lozoff, has headed up the new spirits division. In addition to working in and around the wine and spirits industry for over a decade, Lozoff has written about and reviewed spirits since 2010 on his own website.
“As wine and spirits lovers ourselves, we’ve always viewed the expansion of our portfolio through a consumer lens,” says Kevin Mehra, Latitude Beverage founder and CEO. “We can ask what the market is missing — like a high quality rye under $30 — and because of our unique business model, we can fill those gaps with exceptional products. Terry has identified some great spirits partners so far, and the portfolio is only going to get stronger with what we have in store.”
