Pernod Ricard closing down Morris Wines, of Rutherglen, known for muscats
One of Australia’s best and most respected fortified wine makers is being closed down by its conglomerate owner.
The closure of Morris Wines in Rutherglen is a devastating blow: for the people who will lose their jobs, for the heart and soul of the region, and for Australian wine lovers, especially those of us who think the Morris Rare Muscat is one of the greatest wines in the world.
Parent company Pernod Ricard (the huge drinks multinational that also owns wine brands such as Jacob’s Creek and St Hugo) announced last week it is shutting the cellar door at the 157-year-old Rutherglen winery at the beginning of 2017 and in the meantime putting the assets on the market, to be sold separately — the buildings, the vineyards, and the extensive stocks of fortified wines, including the famous muscats.
Pernod Ricard have said they are keeping the Morris brand but don’t intend to make any more wine under it — unless someone wants to make them an offer now for the whole lot, in which case they would consider selling the brand, too.
This means that if a wealthy, fortified wine-loving saviour doesn’t emerge in the very near future and makes that offer, if the old wines in barrel and the vineyards and the buildings all go to separate buyers and the brand is mothballed, the name Morris might disappear from the Rutherglen wine landscape. Which would be terribly sad.
Pernod Ricard communications director Claire Haigh told me last week the company has decided to sell Morris because “we have been unable to turn (it) into a sustainable operation, due to the ongoing decline in the consumption of fortified wines”.
What rot. Sure, the fortified wine market as a whole has been in steady decline for many years, especially in the cheap, bulk, flagon-and-cask end. But sales of premium fortified wines — like the great muscats that Morris excels at — are holding steady, even improving. And the Rutherglen region, of which Morris has been such an integral part for a century and a half, is enjoying a resurgence at the moment, with new wineries and wine labels appearing and existing businesses investing in infrastructure.
I spoke to a number of winemakers in the region last week and they all told me a similar story: All Saints has just bought another vineyard as well as the historic Mount Ophir Estate to satisfy demand for both grapes and tourist accommodation; Chris Pfeiffer says he’s about to build a new barrel shed to store the growing number of fortified wines he’s producing; Colin Campbell says sales of his premium fortifieds are growing — slowly, but surely — and the region has just launched a specially branded muscat glass in conjunction with Riedel.
So why have Pernod Ricard been unable to keep Morris going while Rutherglen’s other wineries have shown great resilience and begun to turn the fortune of the whole region around?
“Most of us are family companies,” says Campbell. “When you’re making fortified wines, things move in slow circles, it’s a game of patience.
“You battle on, you work through. Morris is the only winery here owned by a corporate. And in the big corporate companies, if the balance sheets don’t line up, quick decisions can be made. Decisions based on straight finance and not on the heart.”
By coincidence, the ABC Landline program recently screened a segment on Morris Wines. If you want to get a feel for the rich heritage at the old Rutherglen winery, the generations of winemakers who’ve built its reputation, check it out: the segment features great footage, shot during the 2016 harvest, of the ripe, raisined muscat grapes being picked and pressed. Watching, it’s hard not to feel emotional, thinking this could be the last time that style of classic Australian wine is produced under the Morris label.