Accolade Wines has sold its historic Stanley winery in Sunraysia to Duxton Vineyards Group.
Duxton produces around 60,000 tonnes of grapes a year equating to around 5% of Australia’s total wine grape harvest. It already owns several major vineyards in the Murray Darling region.
Accolade will retain the Stanley Wines brand in the deal and transfer winemaking from the 80,000-tonne Stanley facility at Buronga in NSW to its Berri facility in South Australia’s Riverland.
The company recently invested $40 million in a new bottling plant and warehouse facilities at Berri (below).
“The sale of Stanley Winery marks a significant milestone in the restructuring of our Australian operations and, with the expansion of our Berri facility, lays the foundation for efficiently growing sales of our portfolio of brands in domestic and export markets,’’ Accolade Wines executive chairman Ari Mervis said.
Mervis said the Stanley range of wines would remain an important brand in the Accolade portfolio.
Duxton chairman Ed Peter said: “This transaction cements Duxton’s presence in the region and will hopefully show that Duxton is committed to the long-term prosperity of the Sunraysia region.’’
Duxton said it will discuss potential employment opportunities with Stanley Wine employees prior to completion of the sale, which is expected to occur in September 2019, subject to regulatory approvals.
