Vertically integrated vineyard and winery up for sale

Located in Southern Australia's Fleurieu wine region, the family-owned estate exports about half of its bottled wine to China.

The Ballast Stone Estate Wines, a vertically integrated wine business near the Murray River in South Australia, is up for sale.

The Shaw family owners were looking for an equity partner, but have abandoned those plans to put the whole business up for sale, according to a Colliers International press release. Neither Colliers nor the Shaw family replied to Agri Investor’s request for details in time for publication.

The business produces bulk and bottled wine from about 430 hectares of vineyards in the Fleurieu region, with proprietary brands including Emetior, RMS, Shaw Family Vintners, Stonemason, Steeple Jack and Currency Creek Estate. Last year the business produced about 52,000 cases of bottled wine and 1.25 million litres of bulk wine. The property also has a large commercial winery as well as barrel storage, cellar door and administration buildings.

About 50 percent of the estate’s bottled wine is exported to China through a joint venture, according to the press release. The estate has a crushing capacity of 7,000 tonnes and a license to crush 20,000 tonnes.

“The company’s wholesale presence with independent liquor groups in the South Australian market is very strong, selling circa 20,000 cases annually. A significant opportunity exists to grow the Shaw Family Vintners brand in the Eastern States via an appropriate distributor,” said Tim Altschwager, national director of rural and agribusiness at Colliers.