Randall Wine advances further into McLaren Vale

The luxury vineyard owner has snapped up the Accolade Wines vineyards, with fruit destined for the newly acquired Penny’s Hill brand.

Luxury vineyard owner The Randall Wine Group has completed the purchase of Accolade Wines comprising three vineyard assets in South Australia’s McLaren Vale with the fruit destined for its newly acquired Penny’s Hill brand.

Fruit from the 155 acre Yeenunga vineyard above the McLaren Vale township will be used to craft artisan volumes of “The Piano”, “Footprint”, “Skeleton Key” and “Cracking Black” Shiraz brands.

Speaking from Bali on Wednesday morning The Randall Wine Group Executive Chairman Warren Randall would not disclose the purchase price citing a confidential clause.

However, local sources told The Australian the deal had been negotiated at more than $5m.

The deal positions The Randall Wine Group as the largest vineyard holder in the McLaren Vale wine district with 2310 acres since wines were first planted in the 1840s. All up it controls 8700 acres across South Australia.

Established in 1978, the Randall Wine Group controls the Seppeltsfield Estate in the Barossa as well as the Penny’s Hill Estate in McLaren Vale.

“Our wine group is always on the lookout for high quality, well managed assets, with good water infrastructure in South Australia’s premium wine regions,” said Mr Randall.

Yeenunga is a proven “single vineyard” site, with ancient contoured plantings of Shiraz and Grenache, highly suitable for the Penny’s Hill brand which was acquired in March, according to the company.

“They are vineyards very capable of producing Icon and A grade wines worth up to $100 per bottle,” said Mr Randall, adding that these vineyards do not come up for sale very often.

“This acquisition further enhances our flight to quality and premiumisation,” he added.

The acquisition also included approximately 400 megalitres of Willunga Basin Water Company water licence.

The single vineyard site in the Yeenunga perched high above the McLaren Vale township is the perfect location for tourism, said Mr Randall.

“The acquisition of these vineyards provides an excellent opportunity to take international tourists to display the beautiful geography of the McLaren Vale region. It’s likes the rolling hills of Tuscany.”