Casella to sell 35 NSW and SA wineries

Australia’s biggest family-owned winegrape grower and wine maker is selling two-thirds of its vineyard portfolio.

Australia’s largest family owned winery and maker of the nation’s most globally recognised wine brand Yellow Tail, is selling 35 wineries across NSW and South Australia.

Casella Family Brands is selling about two-thirds of its property across some of Australia’s best wine regions including the Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Langhorne Creek, Limestone Coast and the Riverina, spanning 7258ha in total.

The sale comes at a time of great distress for many Australian winegrape growers who have lost their best customer in China when it introduced punitive tariffs of about 200 per cent in late 2020.

Growers and winemakers are also battling to stay afloat after two years without on-premise trade, with many restaurants unable to reopen after successive and punishing lockdowns.

Winegrape prices are half of what they were last year for red varieties for those able to find a buyer, while many without contracts are simply dumping their grapes on the ground.

Giovanni “John” Casella took over leadership of the company in 2017 following a restructure soon after co-founder Maria Casella’s death. Picture: Vince Bucello

Casella’s sale is being billed as an opportunity to become a “strategic partner to own and operate a considerable and valuable selection” of Casella’s vineyard holdings, and enter into a mutually beneficial long-term grape supply agreement.

Filippo and Maria Casella left southern Italy for Australia in 1957 with a dream to build a winery where their family could work together. They purchased Farm 1471 near Yenda, just outside Griffith, NSW, in 1965, where they began growing grapes for local winemakers.

Yellow Tail now accounts for about 17 per cent of all Australian exported wine. Casella also owns Brand’s Laira, Peter Lehmann, Morris of Rutherglen and Baileys of Glenrowan.

The vineyard sale deal, which is being handled by Colliers, includes 5650ha of vineyard area and considerable water entitlements.

The portfolio is being offered for sale as a single transaction in an expressions of interest campaign that closes on June 8.

It is understood the sale will not impact longstanding relationships and contractual agreements for Casella to source grapes from South Australia and NSW.