Australie : Rosemount Winery sera cédée en janvier à UHI Pty Ltd marquant ainsi la fin du démentèlement de cette winery « icône »

The sale of the iconic Rosemount Estate winery, in the Lower Hunter, is on track to be settled by the end of January. An Expression of Interest (EOI) posted on the Muswellbrook Shire Council website lists UHI Pty Ltd as contracted to purchase the winery, and seeks expressions for leasing the individual sheds or the whole site for use from February 2011.

The EOI states that Rosemount brand owners Foster’s is in the final stages of dismantling the winery, with plans to retain the winery equipment for use in other premises.

Foster’s first announced its plans to begin looking for buyers and possibly close down the Denman winery in March 2009, and in August 2010 they confirmed the winery had been sold.

The Rosemount property in Denman was founded by well-known winery owner Bob Oatley more than 40 years ago.

In 2001 the Oatley family took Rosemount into a $1.49 billion merger with Southcorp Wines, which subsequently was acquired by beer giant Foster’s for $3.2 billion in 2005.

The property 10 kilometres west of Denman covers 260 hectares and includes the winery buildings and 59ha of Chardonnay, Traminer and Verdelho

UHI director Bob Wheeldon says no future use of the property and facilities had been confirmed, and exact details of the purchase were covered by a confidentiality agreement.

“Our early plans are to retain its strong heritage with winemaking in Australia, by developing the accommodation and lifestyle aspect of the property, which includes the old cellar door and winery,” he said.

“We’d also like to keep the vineyard, but on a smaller scale.

“The second part of the property has the large insulated sheds, which include, I believe, some of the largest wine stores in Australia, so perhaps we can be of use to the wider Hunter Valley wine industry there as well.”

Wheeldon oversees a number of rural property investments and says he is dedicated advocate of the Australian wine industry and rural and regional Australia.

“I’m not an expert in the industry, however, I am trying to drink as much Australian wine as I can and I encourage as many other Australians to do the same,” he said.

“There’s no doubt that there is a current rationalisation of the wine industry going on but those who survive this will have learnt and adopted much stronger business models and will be here for a long time to come.”

A Muswellbrook Shire Council spokesman says he hoped any future development would be a conduit for local employment opportunities.

“In its heyday Rosemount employed well over 100 locals, not to mention all the contract growers and seasonal workers, so yes it is sad to see its closure,” he said.

“More recently, there’s just been a handful of people employed for maintenance and its last official crush was in 2009, so it’s been winding down for some time.”

 The sale does not affect the Rosemount brand itself, which until recently was noted as one of Foster’s top performers and is made from fruit sourced from across south east Australia.

In November, it was announced that Fosters was undertaking a review of the Rosemount wine brand, as a result of flagging sales and brand recognition.

A media report in the Fairfax press said the review would consider a range of new options around the brand, including new packaging, a change in wine styles, marketing, pricing and even a plan to target a new demographic of consumers.

A Fosters spokesperson said since the early ‘90s when Rosemount began purchasing vineyards in the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, the brand had been progressively moving its spiritual home towards the Ryecroft winery in McLaren Vale.

“At the same time, the Rosemount wine ranges have evolved considerably, including grapes from a variety of regional locations,” the spokesperson said.

“Growers have been kept informed of the progress of the Denman Winery sale, and individual arrangements regarding grower supply contracts have been communicated via our grower liaison manager.

“The Rosemount Cellar door is located at McLaren Vale.”