Constellation Brands acquired luxury Napa Valley wine brand Domaine Curry from its founder for an undisclosed price, the company announced June 23. The boutique brand will join The Prisoner Wine Company’s house of brands, part of Constellation’s luxury-focused Aspira portfolio.
At first glance, the deal might look surprising. Domaine Curry does not own any vineyards or a physical winery or tasting room. But it’s a brand with an impressive record of attracting younger, more diverse luxury consumers to wine. Domaine was founded by actress and cookbook author Ayesha Curry, wife of the NBA legend Stephen Curry, and her sister-in-law Sydel Curry-Lee, a mental-health advocate and wife of Phoenix Suns guard Damien Lee. They have been making 5,000 cases per year in partnership with Coup De Foudre Napa Valley.
“Our ambition is to think differently about who is a luxury wine consumer,” Bukky Ekundayo, vice president and general manager of The Prisoner Wine Company, told Wine Spectator. “Bringing them into The Prisoner Wine Company portfolio builds on our history of expanding the luxury wine landscape.”
Domaine Curry will be a part of the Prisoner’s portfolio of brands, including Prisoner, Saldo, Blindfold and Unshackled. While Curry and Curry-Lee will not retain a stake in the brand, they plan to remain involved in marketing the wines.
“We are so excited to partner with a company that shares our values and aspirations, who can also offer quality sourcing, expert winemaking and best-in-class DTC, e-commerce and hospitality resources needed to make more space for women of color in the luxury wine landscape,” they said in a statement.
The addition is part of Constellation’s strategy to invest $100 million in Black- and minority-owned businesses by 2030. It’s also part of a gradual transition at the Prisoner, which the company bought from Huneeus Vintners in 2016. In the past, the brand’s executives leaned into a kitschy prison motif. More recently, they have refocused their marketing, bringing attention to mass incarceration issues and targeting a younger consumer.
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