May 4, Joseph W. Mollica, Chairman Michael R. Milligan, Deputy Commissioner

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1 May 4, 2016 Joseph W. Mollica, Chairman Michael R. Milligan, Deputy Commissioner Contact: E.J. Powers x11 NH Liquor Commission Honors Annual Wine, Spirit & Employee Award Winners Employees from across New Hampshire, Lee s Flag Hill Distillery and LaBelle Winery in Amherst recognized alongside national brands Jack Daniels Tennessee Fire, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Carnivor & Ferrari Carano Concord, NH With honorees characterized by a combination of community support, innovative product marketing, exceptional sales and a tireless work ethic, the New Hampshire Liquor Commission (NHLC) recently paid tribute to its 2015 Wine, Spirit & Employee Award winners Tuesday, April 19, at the Puritan Backroom in Manchester. NHLC honored the top distillery, winery, wine, spirit and business partner, along with the top New Hampshire winery and spirit. For the first time since it launched its Wine & Spirits Awards four years ago, NHLC recognized several NH Liquor & Wine Outlet employees for their teamwork, leadership, commitment and overall excellence. Each year we have the opportunity to honor the business partners, brands and products that play an integral role in exceeding our sales goals, which for fiscal year 2015, reached a record $642 million in sales, an increase of $21 million or 3.4% - over the previous fiscal year, said NHLC Chairman Joseph Mollica. All of our winning products and brands this year have been selected due to their remarkable success with our more than 11 million annual customers at our 79 New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets across the state. We are also proud to formally honor our dedicated NH Liquor & Wine Outlet employees, who are deeply committed to serving our customers and the people of New Hampshire. NHLC recognized the following brands, products and individuals: Wine of the Year Carnivor Cabernet Sauvignon Spirit of the Year Jack Daniel s Tennessee Fire Winery of the Year Ferrari Carano Vineyards and Winery Distillery of the Year Jameson Irish Whiskey Business Partners of the Year Anne Edgington (Constellation Brands) & Jon Bardwell (Southern Wine & Spirits) New Hampshire Winery of the Year LaBelle Winery New Hampshire Spirit of the Year Flag Hill Winery & Distillery Customer First Award Store 6 (Portsmouth, Islington St.), with special mention of Shelly (Rochelle) Davenport NH Liquor Commission s Award for Leadership Store 44 (New Hampton) Ron Shute, Manager Top Shelf Merchandising Award Store 60 (West Lebanon) Heidi Guyette, Manager Tight Ship Award Store 2 (West Chesterfield) Tammy Solomon, Manager

2 Above & Beyond Award Store 73 (Hampton 1-95 South) with special mention of Deb Perkins, Kali Coleman, Reed Buxton & Cameron Welch (Hampton I-95 South) Excellence in Teamwork Award Store 59 (Merrimack) David Swisher, Manager and staff Raise Your Glass Award Store 26 (Groveton) Madeline Hart, Manager National Award Winners Since entering the New Hampshire market in 2014, Carnivor Cabernet Sauvignon has managed to increase its gross profit by 190%. In 2015, 30,700 more bottles were sold in NH Liquor & Wine Outlet locations compared to the year before. By offering a quality product and competitive pricing, Carnivor has received many impressive reviews, including a 90-point rating by Wine Enthusiast the past two years, demonstrating the wine s consistency and securing it the NHLC Wine of the Year award. With its stylish and delicious wines, Ferrari Carano Vineyards and Winery received the NHLC Winery of the Year award. Ferrari Carano, along with broker Southern Wine & Spirits, played an integral role in increasing NHLC s profits in 2015 with its Chardonnay and Fume Blanc. Ferrari Carano worked with NHLC throughout 2015 to deliver competitive pricing to New Hampshire customers, which resulted in increased sales of Chardonnay and Fume Blanc by $221,000 and 6,000 more bottles sold in 2015 compared to Jack Daniel s Tennessee Fire was introduced to NH Liquor & Wine Outlet customers in January 2015 and quickly emerged as a leading spirit taking only 23 days to make full distribution in all 79 NH Liquor & Wine Outlet locations and reaching #103 on the top 200 list of best-selling products in less than a year. Both the 1.75ml and 50ml offerings sold faster than NHLC could keep them in stores and 400 cases of the 100ml offering all but sold before the end of the year. With $323,722 in gross profit on three sizes, two of which were limited quantities, Jack Daniel s Tennessee Fire has been named the NHLC Spirit of the Year. After more than 30 years in the New Hampshire market selling premium Irish Whiskey, Jameson Irish Whiskey introduced Jameson Black Barrel in 2014 and followed that with Jameson Caskmates in Both products skyrocketed through NHLC s test period and Black Barrel became a top 200 brand in the first year in New Hampshire. In addition to the Jameson portfolio generating more than $1.657 million in gross profits for 2015, the company has also taken an active role connecting with NH Liquor & Wine Outlet customers through an all-digital sweeps program and a Winter Fun sweeps program. For those reasons, Jameson Irish Whiskey was named NHLC s Distillery of the Year. NHLC s Business Partner of the Year was awarded to Anne Edgington of Constellation Brands and Jon Bardwell of Southern Wine & Spirits, the two key members of NHLC s Category Management Team. Anne and Jon ensure that NH Liquor & Wine Outlet stores are designed and merchandised to encourage a customer-friendly shopping experience and support profitability through a fair, data-driven approach to the placement of product in stores. Anne and her team at Constellation recently created and implemented the largest new store set in Constellation s history at the newly opened 24,000 square foot Salem NH Liquor & Wine Outlet. New Hampshire Award Winners Citing its 20% growth at NH Liquor & Wine Outlets in 2015, NHLC recognized LaBelle Winery in Amherst as the New Hampshire Winery of the Year. In addition to its café and gift shop, LaBelle recently added new technology in its wine filtration system that streamlines the filtration process by reducing oxygen exposure, producing higher quality wine. LaBelle currently produces 30 different wines and is in the process of acquiring a 48-acre parcel across from its existing facility, to construct an artisan village complete with an inn, restaurant, distillery, brewery and small homes. Beginning in 2004 with its General John Stark Vodka, Flag Hill Winery & Distillery was the first New Hampshire distillery to offer its products at NH Liquor & Wine Outlets. Since then, it has offered an additional 10 products including liqueurs, rum, moonshine, and most recently, bourbon. The Flag Hill line

3 of products achieved more than $96,000 in gross profit in 2015 and aims to grow that even more with NHLC in the coming year as the New Hampshire Spirit of the Year winner. NHLC Employee Award Winners NHLC honored long-time dedicated associates, knowledgeable managers and rising stars from across the state in its first-ever employee awards. Reflecting on what has enabled our record-breaking success among our NH Liquor & Wine Outlets over the past year, it is impossible to overlook the dedicated employees of the New Hampshire Liquor Commission, Chairman Mollica said. These individuals have stood out for their deep knowledge, commitment to customer service, teamwork and can-do attitude. We are ever thankful to these employees for their commitment to NHLC and for ensuring that the customer experience at our 79 NH Liquor & Wine Outlets is unparalleled. Photo captions: Brown Forman Jack Daniel s Tennessee Fire was named the New Hampshire Liquor Commission s Spirit of the Year. Pictured from left to right are: NHLC Chairman Joseph Mollica; NHLC Director of Marketing, Merchandising & Warehousing, Nicole Brassard Jordan; Neil Santorella, Brown-Forman; NHLC Deputy Commissioner Michael Milligan; Bob Kelley, Brown-Forman; Paul Power, Horizon Beverage Company; and NHLC Spirits Marketing Specialist Mark Roy.

4 Flag Hill Flag Hill Winery & Distillery of Lee, NH was named the New Hampshire Liquor Commission s New Hampshire Spirit of the Year. Pictured from left to right are: NHLC Chairman Joseph Mollica; NHLC Director of Marketing, Merchandising & Warehousing, Nicole Brassard Jordan; Brian Ferguson, owner of Flag Hill Winery & Distillery; NHLC Deputy Commissioner Michael Milligan; and NHLC Spirits Marketing Specialist Mark Roy. Groveton Madeline Hart, manager at the Groveton NH Liquor & Wine Outlet (Store #26) received the Raise Your Glass award for her commitment to customer service at NHLC s Wine, Spirit & Employee

5 Awards reception. Pictured left to right are Lisa Gosselin, NHLC Wine Marketing Specialist; Mark Roy, NHLC Spirits Marketing Specialist; Madeline Hart, Groveton Store Manager; and NHLC Supervisor Tony Burns. Merrimack The Merrimack NH Liquor & Wine Outlet (Store #59) received the Excellence in Teamwork award at the New Hampshire Liquor Commission s Wine, Spirit & Employee Awards reception. Pictured from left to right are Ron Owens, Jim Richards, NHLC Administrator of Store Operations, Courtney Delogue, Dave Swisher, Rachael Lacroix & Wayne Costa.

6 LaBelle Winery LaBelle Winery of Amherst, NH was named the New Hampshire Liquor Commission s New Hampshire Winery of the Year. Pictured from left to right are Cesar Arboleda & Amy LaBelle of LaBelle Winery. Top shelf Heidi Guyette, manager of the West Lebanon NH Liquor & Wine Outlet (#60) received the Top Shelf Merchandising Award at the New Hampshire Liquor Commission s Wine, Spirit & Employee Awards reception. Pictured from left to right are NHLC Chairman Joseph Mollica; NHLC Director of Marketing, Merchandising & Warehousing, Nicole Brassard Jordan; NHLC Deputy Commissioner Michael Milligan; Heidi Guyette, West Lebanon Store Manager; and NHLC Area Supervisor Rick Banks.

7 Leadership Ron Shute, manager of the New Hampton NH Liquor & Wine Outlet received the NH Liquor Commission s Award for Leadership at NHLC s Wine, Spirit & Employee Awards reception. Pictured from left to right are NHLC Chairman Joseph Mollica; NHLC Director of Marketing, Merchandising & Warehousing, Nicole Brassard Jordan; Ron Shute, New Hampton Store Manager; NHLC Deputy Commissioner Michael Milligan; NHLC Area Supervisor Gary Smith; and Jim Richards, NHLC Administrator of Store Operations.

8 Above & Beyond Staff members at the Hampton I-95 South NH Liquor & Wine Outlet (Store 73) were the recipients of the New Hampshire Liquor Commission s Above & Beyond Award for their dedication to customer service. Pictured from left to right are NHLC Chairman Joseph Mollica; NHLC Director of Marketing, Merchandising & Warehousing, Nicole Brassard Jordan; Karen Boswell, Hampton Store Associate; NHLC Deputy Commissioner Michael Milligan; and NHLC Area Supervisor Dave Kenney. Special mention was made of Deb Perkins, Kali Coleman, Reed Baxton and Cameron Welch. Customer First The Portsmouth NH Liquor & Wine Outlet on Islington Street (Store #6) was recognized with the Customer First award for their outstanding customer service at the New Hampshire

9 Liquor Commission s Wine, Spirit & Employee Awards reception. Pictured in photo from left to right are: NHLC Chairman Joseph Mollica; NHLC Director of Marketing, Merchandising & Warehousing, Nicole Brassard Jordan; NHLC Deputy Commissioner Michael Milligan; Duane DuBois, Portsmouth Islington Street Store Manager; and Jim Richards, NHLC Administrator of Store Operations. Tight Ship Award Tammy Solomon, manager of the West Chesterfield NH Liquor & Wine Outlet (Store #2) received the Tight Ship Award from the New Hampshire Liquor Commission at their Wine, Spirit & Employee Awards reception. Pictured from left to right are: NHLC Chairman Joseph Mollica; NHLC Director of Marketing, Merchandising & Warehousing, Nicole Brassard Jordan; NHLC Deputy Commissioner Michael Milligan; Tammy Solomon, West Chesterfield Store Manager; and Jim Richards, NHLC Administrator of Store Operations. About the New Hampshire Liquor Commission The New Hampshire Liquor Commission (NHLC) operates 79 retail locations throughout the Granite State and serves more than 11 million customers each year. More than $3 billion in net profits has been raised since the first store opened in NHLC had its best sales year ever in Fiscal Year 2015, generating $642 million in gross sales, an increase of $21 million or 3.4% -- over the previous fiscal year. Total liquor net profits transferred to the New Hampshire s General Fund reached $151.7 million, which are used to fund programs including education, health and social services, transportation and natural resource protection. Visit to locate a store, search for product availability, learn about monthly sales, review wine tasting schedules, and sign up to receive significant savings with monthly Extras. ###