Schild Estate brand and winery sold to CW Wines, Atlas Wines

A historic Barossa Valley wine brand – and its winery near Lyndoch – have been sold to two family-owned producers.

The Schild Estate brand and winery has been sold. Picture: Langley & Co.

The Barossa Valley’s oldest family-owned grape grower Schild Estate has sold off its historic winery and brand.

Padthaway’s CW Wines has picked up the prized Schild Estate brand and stock, while boutique Clare Valley producer Atlas Wines will take over the 1000-tonne winery near Lyndoch.

The Schild family retains ownership of more than 130ha of vineyards across 10 sites in the southern part of the Barossa, and will continue to supply grapes to CW Wines as part of an ongoing supply agreement.

CW Wines chief executive Brett Anderson said the acquisition provided an opportunity for the company to acquire a well-known brand in the state’s premier wine region.

“What we’ve set about over the past few years is developing our portfolio of well-respected wine brands - we grow the fruit, we make the wine and we market the wine both internationally and domestically,” he said.

“Within our portfolio we were lacking a strong Barossa label and we felt that Schild Estate was a very good fit. We wanted to make sure we could continue the amazing work that the Schild family has done over the years.”

CW Wines owns and manages about 600ha of vineyards across the Limestone Coast and Coonawarra, and also purchases fruit from growers across a number of regions.

Schild Estate wines will be produced at the Stonehaven Winery in Padthaway following the sale of the brand to CW Wines.

The company is preparing to relaunch the Stonehaven brand following its acquisition of the brand, winery, vineyards and cellar door in Padthaway in 2021.

Schild Estate wines will be produced at the 12,000-tonne winery, alongside the production of other brands in the CW Wines portfolio, including Reschke and Schoolhouse from the Coonawarra and Ulithorne from McLaren Vale.

Mr Anderson said the company had successfully redirected more of its sales to the domestic market after the imposition of Chinese tariffs in 2020, while the US and Sweden had also emerged as growing markets.

But he welcomed reports the Chinese authorities were considering lifting the tariffs.

“Our focus has shifted but we’ve still got a lot of customers in China that we have very good relationships with, that would like to continue purchasing our wines and we would like to continue supplying them,” he said.

“So we would welcome any reduction in trade barriers to enable that business to continue.

“In purchasing Schild, we’ve also got access to a greater number of export markets, which we weren’t dealing with previously.”

Schild Estate started producing wines in 1998, but the family’s roots in the Barossa date back much further to when Ben and Alma Schild acquired their first vineyard in the region in 1952.

Their son Ed took the reins of the family business following Ben’s sudden death in 1956 and later created the Schild Estate brand in 1998.

Under his leadership, it has grown its domestic and international sales to 20,000-30,000 dozen bottles a year, with its flagship Moorooroo Shiraz, produced using vines planted in 1847, fetching around $200 a bottle.

The winery and brand was put on the market in August after Ed stepped back from the day-to-day operations. The sale was brokered by Langley & Co. Advisors.