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EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS
401(k) Plans.  The Company has established 401(k) plans covering all employees after certain eligibility requirements are met.  Amounts charged to operations for employer contributions related to the plans totaled $2,517, $1,826, and $1,733 for 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively.
 
Post-Employment Benefits.  The Company sponsors life insurance coverage as well as medical benefits, including prescription drug coverage, to certain retired employees and their spouses.  In 2014, the Company made a change to the plan to terminate post-employment health care and life insurance benefits for retirees and employees except for a specified grandfathered group. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, total current benefit obligation recorded in accrued expense on the Consolidated Balance Sheets was $190 and $232, respectively. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, total noncurrent benefit obligation was $847 and $1,159, which was recorded in other noncurrent liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, respectively.

Share-Based Compensation Plans.  As of December 31, 2022, the Company was authorized to issue 40,000,000 shares of Common Stock and had a treasury share balance of 1,131,124 at December 31, 2022.

The Company currently has two active share-based compensation plans: the Employee Equity Incentive Plan of 2014 (the “2014 Plan”) and the Non-Employee Director Equity Incentive Plan (the “Directors’ Plan”). The plans were approved by shareholders at the Company’s annual meeting in May 2014. Detail of activities in both plans follows below.

The Company’s share-based compensation plans provide for the awarding of stock options, stock appreciation rights, and shares of restricted stock and RSUs for senior executives and salaried employees, as well as for outside directors.   Compensation expense related to restricted stock awards is based on the market price of the stock on the date the Board of Directors communicates the approved award and is amortized over the vesting period of the restricted stock award. The Consolidated Statements of Income for 2022, 2021, and 2020 reflect total share-based compensation costs and director fees for awarded grants of $3,487, $2,346, and $2,723, respectively, related to these plans.
For long-term incentive awards to be granted in the form of RSUs in 2023 based on 2022 results, the Human Resources and Compensation Committee (“HRCC”) determined that the grants would have performance conditions that would be based on the same performance metrics as the Short-Term Incentive Plan (the “STI Plan”). The performance metrics are operating income, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (“EBITDA”), and EPS. Because management determined at the beginning of 2022 that the performance metrics would more likely than not be met, amortization of the estimated dollar pool of RSUs to be awarded based on 2022 results was started in the first quarter over an estimated 48 month period, including 12 months to the grant date and an additional 36 months to the vesting date. The Consolidated Statements of Income for 2022, 2021, and 2020 reflects share-based compensation costs for grants to be awarded of $2,018, $960, and $2,566, respectively.

2014 Plan. The 2014 Plan, with 1,500,000 shares registered for future grants, provides that vesting occurs pursuant to the time period specified in the particular award agreement approved for that issuance of RSUs, which is to be not less than three years unless vesting is accelerated due to the occurrence of certain events. As of December 31, 2022, 586,353 RSUs had been granted of the 1,500,000 shares approved for under the 2014 Plan.

Directors’ Plan. The Director’s Plan, with 300,000 shares registered for future grants, provides that vesting occurs pursuant to the time period specified in the particular award agreement approved for that issuance of equity.  As of December 31, 2022, 131,663 shares were granted of the 300,000 shares approved for grants under the Directors’ Plan and all 131,663 shares were vested.

RSUs.  Summary of unvested RSUs under the Company’s share-based compensation plans for 2022, 2021, and 2020:
 
Year Ended December 31,
 202220212020
 UnitsWeighted Average
 Grant-Date
Fair Value		UnitsWeighted Average
 Grant-Date
Fair Value		UnitsWeighted Average
 Grant-Date Fair Value
Unvested balance at beginning of year167,994 $61.07 118,855 $60.56 116,855 $65.73 
Granted69,492 78.08 95,113 65.66 38,700 31.93 
Forfeited(28,542)61.11 (7,915)62.77 (5,278)63.17 
Vested(29,406)76.59 (38,059)70.60 (31,422)44.06 
Unvested balance at end of year179,538 $65.11 167,994 $61.07 118,855 $60.56 

During 2022, 2021, and 2020, the total grant date fair value of RSU awards vested was $2,252, $2,687, and $1,384, respectively. As of December 31, 2022 there was $3,098 of total estimated unrecognized compensation costs (net of estimated forfeitures) related to granted RSU awards.  These costs are expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately 1.3 years.

Upon their vesting, the Company purchased restricted stock and RSUs from employees to cover associated withholding taxes. Total treasury stock purchases added 9,031 shares for $715 in 2022; 11,887 shares for $767 in 2021; and 10,437 shares for $358 in 2020.

Annual Cash Incentive Plan. Pursuant to the STI Plan, short-term incentive compensation is dependent on the achievement of certain performance metrics by the Company, established by the Board of Directors. Each performance metric is calculated in accordance with the rules approved by the HRCC, which may adjust the results to eliminate unusual items. For 2022, 2021, and 2020, the performance metrics were operating income, EBITDA, and EPS. Operating income for the performance metric was defined as reported GAAP operating income adjusted for certain discretionary items as determined by the Company’s management, if applicable (“adjusted operating income”). The HRCC determines the officers and employees eligible to participate under the STI Plan for the plan year as well as the target annual incentive compensation for each participant for each plan year. Additionally, certain employees within the Branded Spirits segment have an incentive plan that is based on performance metrics of number of depleted cases and gross margin. Amounts expensed under the STI Plan totaled $13,370, $11,155, and $9,732 for 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively.

Deferred Compensation Plan. The Company established an unfunded Executive Deferred Compensation Plan (“EDC Plan”) effective as of June 30, 2018, with a purpose to attract and retain highly-compensated key employees by providing participants with an opportunity to defer receipt of a portion of their salary, bonus, and other specified compensation. The Company’s obligations under this plan will change in conjunction with the performance of the participants’ investments, along with contributions to and withdrawals from the plan. Realized and unrealized gains (losses) on deferred compensation plan
investments were insignificant and were included as a component of operating income in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Income, because the Company’s deferred compensation investments consist of mutual funds that are considered trading securities.

Plan investments are classified as Level 1 in the fair value hierarchy since the investments trade with sufficient frequency and volume to enable the Company to obtain pricing information on an ongoing basis. The current portion of deferred compensation plan deferrals is comprised of estimated amounts to be paid within one year depending on timing of planned disbursements. At December 31, 2022 and 2021, the EDC Plan investments were $2,176 and $3,072, respectively, which were recorded in other assets on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. The EDC Plan current liabilities were $510 and $617 at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and were included in accrued expenses and other on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. The EDC Plan non-current liabilities were $2,191 and $2,981 as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, which were recorded in Other non-current liabilities on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets.