Patriarche Wine Agencies (PWA) has been bought by Champagne de Castelnau from Burgundy house Patriarche Père et Fils.

PWA will continue as the exclusive distributor for all the wines made by the Patriarche group in the UK and Republic of Ireland, and has signed a long-term contract with its former owner.

Keith Isaac MW remains general manager and Charles Ancliffe as national accounts manager.

"The good thing is that Champagne de Castelnau want to invest in the UK market and take more people on," Isaac told Harpers. PWA will be hire two new sales managers as a result of the investment. The new staff will be mainly focused in London and the South East and sell PWA's whole agency portfolio.

"There was a willingness from de Castelnau to invest in the UK and from Patriarche to look at other parts of the world. They're keen to stress that they're not withdrawing from the UK market, but Patriarche as a group are looking much more to the emerging markets," Isaac said.

"The UK market is Champagne de Castelnau's most important export market, which is why they were keen to have control of their distribution, which a lot of other Champagne companies do in the UK."

De Castelanu plans to more than double its sales to one million bottles by 2020 and will mark its centenary in 2016.

"We are delighted to be able to take control of PWA and of our distribution in the UK, and are keen to invest in the business and grow Castelnau in the most important export market for Champagne. We will be looking to add to the sales team immediately to strengthen the work done by Charles Ancliffe and Keith Isaac," said Pascal Prudhomme, directeur general of CRVC Champagne de Castelnau.