By Andrew Starke
A legend of the Australian wine industry has praised the management team at Treasury Wine Estates, calling CEO David Dearie ‘the best man for the job’.
While the wine company’s results for the 12 months to the end of June, released last week, were less than inspiring, wine pioneer Wolf Blass believes he is the right man to take the company into the next era.
Despite rumours of a possible takeover bid, initially by Constellation Brands and then China’s Bright Food Group, Dearie has remained upbeat on Treasury’s future growth prospects.
Earning before interest and tax were down 7.3 percent for the financial year, largely in line with market expectation.
However Blass said he was confident the company was well positioned with overseas markets likely to be a key component of any turnaround.
Speaking at an event celebrating 35 consecutive vintages of Wolf Blass Black Label, he said the longevity of the winemaker’s ‘house style’ had hopefully answered the critics.
“They used to say ‘he is not a winemaker, just a blender’,” Blass quipped.
Wolf Blass will unveil its 2011 latest luxury releases on September 1 with Wolf Blass 2009 Grey Label Robe Mount Benson Shiraz Cabernet, 2007 Black Label Langhorne Creek McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz Malbec and the 2008 Platinum Label Barossa Shiraz hitting shelves around the country.
“This collection shows our team’s ability to make wines of great balance and depth,” said Chris Hatcher, Wolf Blass chief winemaker said.
”Each wine highlights a different wine growing region of South Australia and a different vintage from 2007 through to 2009, showing the diversity of wines that can be produced from this great area, despite the difficult conditions of these three years.”
- 2009 Wolf Blass Grey Label Robe Mt Benson Shiraz Cabernet – RRP $44.99
- 2007 Wolf Blass Black Label Langhorne Creek McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz – RRP $129.99
- 2008 Wolf Blass Platinum Label Barossa Shiraz – RRP $169.99