The award-winning Shingleback winery in McLaren Vale is for sale at the right price.
Shingleback was established by brothers Kym and John Davey in 1998 with the release of their first wine – a Shiraz.
The winery now produces more than 100,000 cases of wine a year with 70 percent domestic sales and 30 percent export.
Managing director Kym Davey says the time is right to explore new ownership for the good of the business.
“We’ve made the big decision to investigate new ownership as a pathway,” he says.
“In business you have always got to look at opportunities and plan for success.
“If you’re not going forward, you’re going backwards.
“Sometimes you’ve got to take yourself out of the picture and say, well, if you’re going to plan for success you need to have an open mind about what that success may look like.”
Kym says the business achieved everything it set out to achieve.
“That is not to say there’s not more work to do,” he says.
“But the wines are just amazing, the brands are really strong and the vineyard is now fully developed and established.
“We’ve got a large scale environmental project underway.
“We have adapted to the market throughout the twenty years – we’ve never followed trends but we have adapted.”
Shingleback won the 2006 Jimmy Watson Trophy with D Block Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2005.
“Personally I’m twice as proud of the fact that Shingleback has been the most successful exhibitor in the McLaren Vale Wine Show for the past six years,” Kym says.
“There are a lot of one-trick ponies who win something with one wine and don’t ever repeat it – well, so what.
“But to be recognised among our peers in McLaren Vale for six years straight does show what we hold really dear – that consistency and diversity of the range.”
Shingleback was huge in America before the GFC. It sold wine in China, but didn’t rely on it.
“The one thing we didn’t do was chase the China dream,” Kym says.
“We considered that an opportunistic market and we had good success but we never really relied on it.
“It was smart or lucky – one or the other.”
Kym says a big part of the success of the business has been attention to detail.
“We are the real deal,” he says.
“We have achieved what we set out to achieve – credibility through attention to detail and diligence.
“We care about every little detail and that follows through into the vineyards, winemaking, production, bottling, packaging and marketing.
“I’ve got a lot of friends in the wine industry who think we’re the most fussy and pedantic pricks in the world.
“We’re kind of proud of that fact.”
Shingleback has a 112 hectare vineyard which is one consolidated parcel.
“Consolidation and efficiency have always been part of my philosophy,” says Kym.
“We’ve got good dirt. We know every inch of that block because we’re there every day.”
Asked if he had mixed feelings about exploring new ownership, Kym says “yes and no”.
“The brands are a bit like children, I guess, we’re very close to them,” he says.
“I’m very philosophical that the brands should continue and the wines should continue to be as good as they’ve been and maybe the best opportunities for that is with different ownership.
“The team that has helped to achieve all this success deserve that opportunity as well.
“The key people in the team will hopefully stay on. They are keen to do so.
“All things change with time, things evolve, and maybe the brands and the company and the vineyards need an evolution and perhaps part of that is new ownership.”
• For enquiries phone Toby Langley from Langley & Co on 0411 029 844 or email tlangley@langleyandco.com.au.