PRACTICING THE READING SKILL

Read the article about a North American wine company and answer the following questions.1. What is Paul Jones responsible for?

2. Who heads the company?

3. Is the company successful?

4. What reason does Tony Swan give for distributors buying more wine produced in the US last year?

5. Does Tony Swan think that the average American expects a bottle of wine that costs $10 to taste good?.

Swan and Lewis
Greentree Wine Company, California, USA
Greentree Wine Company has been producing premium wine in the Napa Valley since 1980 and markets wine under the Brown Canyon, Swan & Lewis and Stratclith labels. In addition, GWC produces several private labels for both domestic and international customers. Last year, GWC bottled over 500,000 cases between their own brands, private labels and custom bottling contracts.
The Swan and Lewis label, which retails for about $10, grew by 53 percent in 2012. Swan and Lewis includes a Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Zinfandel and Pinot Noir. The package was recently updated and includes the slogan, "Stick your nose in our business."
The company is headed by Tony Swan and Glen Lewis who created the Swan and Lewis label in 1990. Paul Jones is responsible for wine production and has worked exclusively for the firm since 1992.
The primary reason Swan & Lewis experienced record growth last year is that key distributors got behind the brand. Swan said the secret of their rapid growth was "being with the right distributors at the right time." He credits the rise in the value of the euro relative to the U.S. dollar for making reasonably priced California wines more attractive to distributors that previously were interested mostly in imports. "A lot of our distributors were strong in imports but felt it wasn't a bad idea to have something from California," he said.
"We need to be with medium-sized distributors, and we need to be with medium-sized distributors that actually care about us, which is not the same thing."
Swan commented that with many wines designed to retail for $10, much of the emphasis is on marketing instead of what the wine tastes like. "We depend on the wine," he said. "I think $10 is an interesting price point," Swan said. "It's a price where almost anybody can afford to buy but high enough where you can do something slightly interesting as far as the wine is concerned. I think the American consumer has become more sophisticated and is looking at interesting wines for around $10."

KEY:
1. He’s responsible for wine production.
2. The company is headed by Tony Swan and Glen Lewis.
3. Yes, it is. The label grew by 53 percent in 2012.
4. The fall in the value of the dollar against the euro.
5. Yes, he does