Private vineyard holder Randall Wine Group has added organic winemaker Gemtree Wines to its portfolio. The acquisition supports the expansion of Randall Wine Group in the global market for organic wine, which will be reinforced by a number of private McLaren Vale organically certified growers.
Gemtree Wines, which will continue to be managed by former Co-Owner Melissa Brown, is the group’s second McLaren Vale purchase in 2023, having acquired the 200-acre Hiltop vineyard earlier this year.
Randall Wine Group also owns the Seppeltsfield Estate in the Barossa and Penny’s Hill Estate in Mclaren Vale, with combined vineyard holdings spanning 9,000 acres in eight premium regions across South Australia.
Warren Randall, Executive Chairman and Proprietor of Randall Wine Group, commented on the acquisition.
“Gemtree is such an exciting brand to add to our stable of thoroughbred brands, Seppeltsfield and Penny’s Hill.
“Organic wine production presents a big opportunity. Organic wine sales are on the march, by 2.5 fold internationally and 15 fold domestically in the last 10 years, while non-organic wine sales declined.
“With the Randall Wine Group achieving 100 per cent sustainable certification in early 2023, Gemtree wines is now both a valuable and natural addition to our group.”
Established in McLaren Vale 25 years ago by Mike and Melissa Brown, Gemtree Wines currently exports to Canada, United States of America, Hong Kong, Denmark, Singapore, New Zealand and Sweden – which recently placed an order for 300,000 bottles of Gemtree organic Shiraz.
Gemtree Wines was a significant exporter to China before punitive tariffs were applied in March 2021, with the potential re-opening of China presenting new export opportunity.
“Australia possesses natural climatic attributes that are conducive to the crafting of organic wine in both the vineyard and the winery,” added Randall. “Our hot and dry Mediterranean climate in McLaren Vale is entirely suited to world class organic and biodynamic wines and yet we are 11th in the world, in terms of organic vineyard area with only one per cent of the world’s organic vineyards.
“There is a significant opportunity for Australian wine to penetrate the biggest organic wine markets in the world, like Germany, France, United Kingdom, United States of America and Sweden. Canada, Japan and New Zealand also present future opportunity.”
Randall, who described the Gemtree acquisition as “the final piece of the jigsaw to propel the Randall Wine Group onto the organic world wine stage”, spoke about the opportunity for growth among the younger demographic.
“As an industry, we are not doing enough to attract young consumers, like the Millennials (27 to 42) and entice them to become regular wine consumers. Currently, Millennials buy much less wine than the Boomers. They are more educated and aware and have a greater appreciation of choices and the provenance of what they eat and drink. They are more likely to seek and understand the winemaking techniques used to craft the wine they are buying and consuming.
“An organic or biodynamically crafted wine brand with genuine provenance and integrity, like Gemtree, is more likely to appeal than a generic, non-organic wine brand in the supermarkets with no provenance. They are smart and savvy consumers and sustainability is also paramount in their purchasing decisions.”