Australian Vintage Explained

Australian Vintage Limited
Former Name:Roserim Limited
Type:Public
Key People:Craig Gavin(CEO)
Industry:Winemaking
Num Employees:430
Founder:Brian McGuigan
Hq Location City:Cowandilla
Hq Location Country:South Australia

Australian Vintage Limited (AVG) is an Australian public company that operates within the wine production industry. It was established by Brian McGuigan with the help of his wife, Fay, and younger brother, Neil McGuigan. The company was incorporated on 30 May 1991 in New South Wales under the name Roserim Limited.[1] [2] This name later changed to Brian McGuigan Wines Limited.[3] After the merger with Simeon Wines in 2002, the company changed its name to McGuigan Simeon Wines Limited, before renaming it to Australian Vintage Limited in 2008.[4] Its main business activities include retail and wholesale wine production, and vineyard management services. As at 2022 it was ranked the fifth largest Australian wine company by production[5] and also the fifth largest in terms of total revenue.[6]

History

Early history

The passion for winemaking is cultivated early in the McGuigan family. In 1880, Owen McGuigan—Brian and Neil's grandfather—started tending his vineyard located in Rothbury in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales to make additional income aside from his dairy production business.[7] [8] His son, Percival (Perc) McGuigan, was influenced to pursue a career in the wine industry from helping his father in the vineyard. Starting in 1941, he became a vineyard manager for the Dalwood Estate for almost 30 years, which he later bought and renamed into Wyndham Estate. He was inducted as a Hunter Valley Legend in 2007 for being a key figure in the development of the Hunter Valley wine industry and community, in particular the shift of consumer preference from richer wines, to lighter dry table wines in the 1950s. This can be attributed to the increased opportunity of a full-range wine-tasting and the increase of European migrants knowledgeable of light wines.

Following Perc's purchase of the Wyndham Estate, his son—Brian— founded the Wyndham Estate Wine Company in the 1970s and became the company's Managing Director.[9] In 1991, the company was sold, giving Brian the resources to build his own. His company was officially listed in the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on 26 March 1992 and incorporated as Roserim Limited, before changing its name to Brian McGuigan Wines Limited.[10] Following his father's footsteps, Brian was inducted as a Hunter Valley Legend in 2008 for his contributions.

1992–2007

Following its incorporation, Brian McGuigan Wines Ltd engaged in many acquisitions in its early business years. The company acquired the Bethany Creek and Vine Vale vineyards in 1992. In 1994, the company absorbed four wineries: Richmond Grove winery, Deaseys Road vineyard, Hunter Ridge winery and Pokolbin winery. In 1996, the company acquired an unlabeled vineyard in the Upper Hunter region. Between 1997 and 1998, it sold the Hunter Ridge label to BRL Hardy, acquired Hermitage Road winery and sold five of its vineyards to the Beston Pacific Vineyard Trust. In 1999, the company acquired an additional 25% of its UK distribution company, Geoffrey Roberts Agencies, as well as the Yaldara winery in the Barossa Valley region.Brian McGuigan Wines Limited merged with Simeon Wines in 2002 and renamed the company to McGuigan Simeon Wines Limited on 10 July 2002. In 2003, it sold Richmond Grove Pathaway, Lawsons Pathaway and Qualco East Vineyards and acquired Miranda Wines. In 2005, it acquired Whitton vineyard, and divested of its Griffith-based winery and bottling operations to Dal Broi Family Wines. It partnered with WaverlyTBS, a UK-based wine distributor, in 2006 to achieve one of its key company strategies, i.e. to grow its exports. Similarly, in 2007, the company partnered with a Dutch wine distributor, Group LFE. That same year it acquired Nepenthe Wines.

2008–present

In 2008, by Board consensus, the company's name was changed to Australian Vintage Limited and was publicly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. In 2011, it sold its Loxton Winery for $27m to TWG Australia, a subsidiary of The Wine Group LLC, USA. In 2014, the company sold its Yaldara Winery to 1847 Winery (SA) Pty Ltd for $15.5m to reduce its debt.[11]

Brands

Australian Vintage Limited owns and manufactures the five brands listed below.[12]

Brand NameVineyard LocationsChief WinemakerBrand Logo
McGuigan WinesHunter ValleyNeil McGuigan
NepentheAdelaide Hills

Balhannah, Charleston, Hahndorf[13]

James Evers
Tempus TwoHunter Valley, Coonawarra, Griffith, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Gundagai, Tumbarumba[14] Andrew Duff
Barossa Valley Wine CompanySouthern region of the Barossa Valley[15] Jamie Saint[16]

Operations

The company generates 97% of its revenue from wine processing and packaging, 2% from the management of vineyards, and the remaining 1% from unallocated sources. Its operations span primarily across four continents: Europe— with an emphasis on the United Kingdom and Ireland, Australia, Asia and North America. The UK/Europe region is the leading export markets, generating 44.9% of the company's total revenue, with Australia coming next at 39%, then Asia and North America at 7.4% and 6% respectively. The geographic source of the remainder is undetermined.

Sustainability

Australian Vintage is one of the pioneering companies undertaking major sustainability efforts in the Australian wine industry. In November 2018, the company signed the Hybrid Renewable Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).[17] [18] The agreement requires 90% of the energy consumption of the company's Buronga Hill plant located in New South Wales to be sourced from renewable energy sources. The plant is the third largest winery in Australia and the company determines that 60% of the energy is to be sourced from off-site wind and solar plants provided by Flow Power, a wholesale electricity supplier, while the remaining 30% is to be obtained from its privately owned on-site solar panel systems.

Expansion into China

Australian Vintage Limited has made major investments as their "commitment to the Chinese market [grows] stronger than ever".[19] In August 2014, it entered a long-term partnership with COFCO Wine & Spirits Co Ltd., which is a subsidiary of China Oil and Food Corporation (COFCO), a Chinese food manufacturing giant. This agreement grants COFCO exclusive distribution rights which is solely applicable to the McGuigan Wines brand.

For the remaining brands, i.e. Tempus Two, Nepenthe and the Barossa Valley Wine Company, the distribution rights are given to partner Vintage China Fund, led by Jiang Yuan, the founder of YesMyWine, China's largest online wine retailer.[20] [21] The partnership was signed in 2017 and involved Vintage China Fund raising $16.5m capital by purchasing 35.9 million of AVL's shares. In addition, Yuan gained a controlling interest and became a member of the Board. The investment decision was made due to several reasons. Firstly, due to the partners’ notable experience in e-commerce— in particular, online wine trading. Secondly, due to a substantial rise in Australian wine sales in 2016, driven mostly by the success of rival Australian wine company, Treasury Wine Estates, owner of the brands Penfolds, Wolf Blass and more.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About. 2020-10-31. Australian Vintage Limited. en-US.
  2. Web site: Australian Vintage Ltd (AVG). 2020-10-31. Market Index. en.
  3. Australia company profiles- Australian Vintage Limited 2019, IBISWorld, viewed 8 October 2020, https://my-ibisworld-com/au/en/company-reports/8222/company-details
  4. Australian Vintage Limited MarketLine Company Profile. Australian Vintage Limited MarketLine Company Profile. 2020. EBSCOhost Business Source Ultimate.
  5. Web site: Australia’s largest wine companies by total wine production . winetitles.com . winetitles media . 2023 . 22 June 2024.
  6. Web site: Australia’s largest wine companies by total revenue . winetitles.com . winetitles media . 2023 . 22 June 2024.
  7. Web site: Our History. 2020-10-31. McGuigan Wines. en-US.
  8. Web site: Hunter Valley Wine Country - Percival McGuigan. 2020-10-31. www.winecountry.com.au.
  9. Web site: Hunter Valley Wine Country - Brian McGuigan. 2020-10-31. www.winecountry.com.au.
  10. Web site: AVG share price and company information for ASX:AVG. 2020-10-31. Australian Securities Exchange. en-US.
  11. Web site: LEWIS. JOHN. 2014-08-05. WINE: 1847 buys Yaldara winery and brand. 2020-10-31. Newcastle Herald. en.
  12. Australian Vintage Ltd 2020 Annual Report 2020, Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), viewed 27 October 2020, https://cdn-api.markitdigital.com/apiman-gateway/ASX/asx-research/1.0/file/2924-02297590-2A1258215?access_token=83ff96335c2d45a094df02a206a39ff4
  13. Web site: SS. About us Nepenthe. 2020-10-31. www.nepenthe.com.au. en-US.
  14. Web site: About. 2020-10-31. Tempus Two. en-US.
  15. Web site: Home Elegant Wines - BVWC Australia. 2020-10-31. Barossa Valley Wine Company. en-AU.
  16. Web site: Our Winemaker. 2020-10-31. Barossa Valley Wine Company. en-AU.
  17. Web site: Sustainability. 2020-10-31. Australian Vintage Limited. en-US.
  18. Danenberg. Eleanor. Australian wineries flick the switch on renewable energy: Australian Vintage and Pernod Ricard winemakers. Australian and New Zealand Grapegrower and Winemaker. 660. 64. Informit Humanities and Social Sciences Collection.
  19. Web site: 2014-08-16. AVL sign distribution agreement with COFCO. 2020-10-31. Australian Vintage Limited. en-US.
  20. Web site: 2017-05-02. Australian Vintage in bed with China's biggest online wine retailer. 2020-10-31. Australian Financial Review. en.
  21. Web site: Australian Vintage gets lucrative investment from China's YesMyWine. 4 May 2017 . 2020-10-31. en-US.