Accolade Wines rationalises production facilities in Australia

Petaluma, Croser and Grant Burge remain an important part of brand portfolio.

Petaluma, Croser and Grant Burge remain an important part of brand portfolio.

Accolade Wines, one of the nation’s largest winemakers and owners of brands such as Hardys, St Hallett, Petaluma, House of Arras and Grant Burge, has rationalised its production facilities in Australia following a decision to sell its Woodside Estate and Krondorf winery.

Chief executive Robert Foye said the winemaker had recently conducted a thorough assessment of its wine footprint to understand the capacity to support the growth of its wine brands and to ensure that each site can run sustainably.

As a result, the two sites in South Australia will be sold.

“In response to the increasing global demand for Petaluma and Croser, these brands have reached capacity at Woodside Estate and outgrown the site. Therefore, we have made the decision to sell this facility and transfer all winemaking of the Petaluma and Croser portfolio to the spiritual home of Accolade Wines and our state-of-the-art facility at Tintara,” said Mr Foye who before joining Accolade Wines was chief operating officer at Treasury Wine Estates.

“We are investigating new locations for the Petaluma Cellar Door to reach even more Petaluma fans and provide new and interesting experiences for wine and food lovers. In the meantime, we will keep trading in the current location until the sale is completed. We will retain our Adelaide Hills vineyards in Summertown and Mount Barker.”

He said that secondly, the assessment of its wine footprint also determined that it did not have enough white wine grapes that require processing in the Barossa to maximise the capability and size of the Krondorf winery.

“Therefore, we are selling this facility so that a potential buyer can more efficiently leverage the strong white wine making capabilities of this winery. Our Grant Burge white wine grapes will be processed at our Tintara and St Hallett wineries in vintage 2021 onwards.

“While we have made the decision to sell these sites, Petaluma, Croser and Grant Burge remain an important part of brand portfolio and we have decided to produce them elsewhere to support their ongoing and planned growth.”

Mr Foye said all employees who are potentially impacted by these changes have been informed.

“I would like to reiterate our commitment to South Australia and our footprint across five wineries, six Cellar Doors, two state of the art facilities and 584 employees. We will continue to invest in the region and have plans in place regarding the opportunities we see in South Australia in the future.”