Chronicle

The roots of the company trace back to 1832, when Adam Henkell founded the Henkell & Cie. sparkling wine cellars, and to 1864, when Johann Jacob Söhnlein founded Söhnlein Rheingold KG.

Competitors for over one hundred years, the two companies merged in 1987 to become Henkell & Söhnlein Sektkellereien KG. In the course of proceeding internationalisation the Group once again trades under the name Henkell & Co. Sektkellerei KG since 2009.

• 2012 The successful internationalisation programme has been advanced by founding new companies in Switzerland and England and the acquisition of the cava producer Cavas Hill in Spain.


• 2011 Creation of import and distribution companies Henkell & Co. Baltic SIA in Riga, Latvia, Henkell & Co. Sverige AB in Stockholm, Sweden and Henkell & Co. Nederland B.V. in the Netherlands.


• 2010 Acquisition of spirit brands Kuemmerling, Fürst Bismarck and Jacobi 1880.


• 2009 Change of corporate name to Henkell & Co. Sektkellerei KG. The company's parent house in Wiesbaden celebrates its 100th birthday. Polish subsidiary Vinpol acquires Lubuski Gin, and Slovak subsidiary Hubert J. E. acquires Karpatské Brandy. Acquisition of import and distribution company Budampex in Tallinn, Estonia.


• 2008 Acquisition of Italian Prosecco producer Mionetto S.p.A. in Valdobbiadene. Slovak subsidiary Hubert J. E. acquires wine and spirits producer Vitis Pezinok. Creation of joint venture Henkell & Company India Private Limited in Mumbai in India to produce and distribute Wodka Gorbatschow.


• 2007 175th anniversary of Henkell. Acquisition of sparkling wine producer Stolichniy in Kiev, Ukraine.


• 2006 The company celebrates “150 Years of Henkell Sparkling Wine”. Acquisition of spirit brands Der Gute Pott, Holborn Rum and Stern-Marke.


• 2005 Czech subsidiary Bohemia Sekt acquires spirit brands Pražská Vodka, Nordic Ice and Silver Ice.


• 2004 Acquisition of brands Kupferberg Gold and Scharlachberg Meisterbrand.


• 2003 Acquisition of distribution and trademark rights for the sparkling wines of the Menger-Krug company in Deidesheim, Germany. Purchase of Romanian sparkling wine and spirits producer S.C. Astese Production s.r.l. in Bucharest.


• 2000 Acquisition of Slovak sparkling wine producer Hubert J. E. s.r.o. in Sered’. Acquisition of sparkling wine and champagne producer Gratien & Meyer S.A.S. in Saumur, France.


• 1999 Acquisition of Bohemia Sekt s.r.o. in Starý Plzenec, Czech Republic.


• 1997 Acquisition of Deinhard AG in Koblenz, purchase of wine, sparkling wine and spirits producer Vinpol Sp. z o.o. in Torun´, Poland.


• 1995 Hungarovin purchases the majority stake in Hungarian wine producer Balatonbolgári Borgazdasági AG (BB). Acquisition of Kurpfalz Sektkellerei in Speyer, Germany.


• 1992 Acquisition of the leading sparkling wine producer in Hungary, Hungarovin AG in Budapest.


• 1988 Acquisition of Austrian company Scharlachberg with the exception of Scharlachberg Meisterbrand brandy.


• 1987 Long-time competitors Henkell & Co. and Söhnlein Rheingold AG merge.


• 1975 Henkell acquires the Carstens KG cellars in Neustadt an der Weinstraße.


• 1963 Söhnlein acquires Burg Weisenau cellars.


• 1960 Söhnlein acquires sparkling wine producer Lutter & Wegner KG in Berlin.


• 1960 Acquisition of Gorbatschow Wodka KG opens the door to the vodka market.


• 1958 Bielefeld entrepreneur Rudolf August Oetker takes over Söhnlein Rheingold AG.


• 1933 Söhnlein acquires the sparkling wine producer Schloss Rheinberg GmbH.


• 1922 Rheingauer Schaumweinfabrik becomes Söhnlein Rheingold AG.


• 1864 Johann Jacob Söhnlein (1827 – 1912) founds the Rheingauer Schaumweinfabrik (sparkling wine factory) in Schierstein on the Rhine.


• 1832 Adam Henkell (1801 – 1866) opens a winery in Mainz and starts producing sparkling wine in 1856.