Who Owns 19 Crimes Wine? Rebellious Wine Connoisseurs Flock to the Brand
Who Owns 19 Crimes Wine? The company, which features wines honoring Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart, is owned by a large global wine company.
Aug. 16 2022, Published 11:57 a.m. ET
Wine connoisseurs who have a touch of rebellion in them may be drawn to 19 Crimes wine. The Australian brand, founded in 2012, focuses on “value-priced red blends” and its packaging may be one of the strongest selling points. 19 Crimes wine is a part of Treasury Wine Estates. Who owns the 19 Crimes wine company?
The 19 Crimes wine label is named for a set of crimes that led scores of petty criminals to be exiled to penal colonies in Australia during the 18th and 19th centuries. The 19 Crimes website states, “This wine celebrates the rules they broke and the culture they built.” Although Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg aren’t owners, they do have wines named after them.
Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart are featured on some of 19 Crimes wines.
Treasury Wine Estates is the parent company of 19 Crimes.
The larger wine company that owns 19 Crimes is Treasury Wine Estates. TWE is one of the largest wine companies globally and it's even listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
According to the TWE website, the company has a portfolio of over 70 wine brands, sold in more than 70 countries around the world. Some of TWE’s brands, besides 19 Crimes, are Sterling Vineyards, Squealing Pig, Beringer, Samuel Wynn, and Penfolds.
The chairman of the board is Paul Rayner. Tim Ford is the current chief executive, while Matt Young serves as Chief Financial Officer.
19 Crimes is named for crimes that sent convicts to Australia.
19 Crimes wine is marketed through storytelling about the crimes of petty convicts who were subsequently shipped off to Australia as punishment. Crimes like petty larceny (theft of something valued under one shilling) and stealing fish from a pond or river are included in the list of 19 crimes, along with the more serious crime of manslaughter.
“Punishment by Transportation” was handed down to a number of criminals. The company says that in 1788, shipping criminals to Australia from the U.K. was the “punishment of choice.”
Bustle reported that although the “19 crimes” stories may be more of a marketing gimmick than based fully on history, there were 160,000 convicts sent to Australia through penal transportation. The 19 Crimes app enables customers to view animated videos about the criminals as well.
Corks of 19 Crimes wines feature one of the applicable crimes.
19 Crimes has wines named for Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg.
In addition to the names of long-ago criminals who were sent to Australia to suffer in penal colonies, present-day celebrities like Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg have wines bearing their names.
“Martha’s Chard” is the wine with Martha Stewart’s image on the label. In January of 2022, North Bay Business Journal reported that the Martha Stewart wine was now available.
John Wardley, Treasury Wine Estates vice president for brand marketing, stated, “Just like her creative collaborator and friend Snoop, Martha Stewart also embodies the spirit of 19 Crimes — disruption and culture creation.”
Snoop Dogg in a promotion for his 19 Crimes wine.
Snoop Dogg’s wines include the “Cali Rosé” and a “Cali Red” blend. The website states, “A leader in contemporary pop culture, Snoop embodies the timeless values of the 19 Crimes rogues who came before him.”
The company states that “19 Crimes wines celebrate the rebellious spirit of the more than 160,000 exiled men and women, the rule breakers and law defying citizens that forged a new culture and national spirit in Australia.”