South Australian family business Torresan Estate has bought the old Petaluma winery and bottling facilities at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills from Accolade Wines.
It’s where Petaluma and Croser wines were previously made.
All winemaking for Petaluma and Croser has moved to Accolade Wines’ Tintara facility.
However, Torresan Estate will continue to work with Accolade to bottle and mature two of its major brands, Croser and House of Arras, at Woodside.
Andrew Torresan says the purchase will also allow Torresan Estate to grow its business and support South Australian winemakers to bottle sparkling wines using traditional methods.
“We are delighted with the acquisition and, as a family with a deep intergenerational engagement in the South Australian wine sector, we have a genuine appreciation of the Petaluma site and its place in the state’s winemaking heritage and history,” he says.
“We are also looking forward to an ongoing relationship with Accolade Wines, a company with a strong tradition in this region and one recognised globally for fine wines from around the world.
“We see a real future for the Woodside site in contract packaging of sparkling wines, supporting the excellence and innovation of South Australian winemakers.”
The Petaluma Cellar Door will remain on site for the long term as part of the transaction and Torresan Estate is working with Accolade and its employees in preparation for transition and handover.
Accolade Wines CEO Robert Foye says he is delighted to partner with a South Australian family business of the calibre of Torresan Estate to continue to deliver some of the state’s finest wines to the world.
“We have seen an increase in global demand for wines, including Petaluma and Croser, and we are working with our world-class winemakers and partners like Torresan to continue to support the growth of these brands,” Foye says.
“We’re committed to South Australia and proud of our heritage in the region from McLaren Vale, the birthplace of Accolade Wines, to our state-of-the-art facilities in Tintara to the Barossa, Coonawarra and Adelaide Hills.
“In collaboration with Torresan Estate, we will continue operating the Petaluma Cellar Door from its current location, with further enhancement to customer experiences planned, and will retain our Adelaide Hills vineyards in Summertown and Mount Barker.”
Torresan Estate was established as a winery in 1962 at Flagstaff Hill, when Gino and Flora Torresan produced their first vintage under the name of G. Torresan and Sons.
The business became a private company, Happy Valley Winery in 1974, producing boutique premium wines for the local market.
Under the guidance of Amelio and John Torresan, the business transitioned to a contract wine packaging business in 1991.
Expansion in the 2000s saw a relocation to McLaren Vale and new state-of-the art-facilities.
New warehousing, bottling machinery upgrades and undercover glass bottle storage at McLaren Vale have been added in the past six years to meet growing industry demand.
Today, operations are managed by third generation family members and Torresan Estate is servicing more than 150 different clients covering a variety of wine regions.
Headquartered in Australia, Accolade Wines draws on a proud heritage, with Houghton established in 1836 and the first grapes treaded at Hardys winery in 1853 to become a world-leading provider of luxury, premium, mainstream and commercial wines.
With three of the top 10 wine brands in the UK, and two of the top 10 in Australia, Accolade’s rich and diverse portfolio is made up of distinguished Australian wine brands including Hardys, St Hallett, Petaluma, Houghton, Grant Burge and Banrock Station and modern wine brands such as House of Arras and Jam Shed.
The Accolade Wines Australian operations alone employ more than 800 people, delivering approximately 38 million cases to more than 140 countries each year.
Accolade is Australia’s largest wine company in terms of grape intake and wine production.
With some of the nation’s largest processing facilities, Accolade Wines is also the country’s largest producer of wine products.
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