Organic South Australian winery ready for new owners
A family-run vineyard and winery known as a leader in the sustainable wine movement has hit the market in South Australia’s McLaren Vale region.
Positioned 40 kilometres south of Adelaide in the Mediterranean-style Fleurieu Peninsula, Gemtree Wines is run by husband and wife team Mike and Melissa Brown using biodynamic processes, with Melissa acting as chief viticulturist and Mike as chief winemaker.
Established in 1998, the brand, which is named after a vineyard established by Melissa’s parents in the region in 1980, was certified as fully organic in 2011 and has won a number of local and international awards.
“They have been at the forefront of the organic and biodynamic movement in McLaren Vale,” says Stephen Strachan, director at Langley & Co Advisors, who is managing the sale. “[Their] approach is to look at sustainability first and foremost when they do anything.”
In addition to the Gemtree brand, the business includes two vineyards, a 3000-tonne capacity winery and a tasting room built using recycled materials and powered by solar panels. The property also features a one-kilometre eco-trail and wetlands with more than 50,000 native plants, which the family developed with help from the local community and Greening Australia in 2001.
“They moved out plants that were not native and did a whole lot of work to reclaim that section of the property,” says Strachan. “It’s quite an innovative trail and it provides a fairly unique perspective on that area of McLaren Vale.”
Strachan says the sale was prompted by one of the shareholders and has attracted “a lot of interest” since it was listed in late December. It has been reported that Chinese iron ore and property investor Yuangang Song became a shareholder in Gemtree in 2013.
The Browns are open to staying on as managers of the property under new ownership and also own separate vineyards that have contracts in place with Gemtree, which they would like to maintain, says Strachan.
“They’ve obviously put a lot of time and effort into developing this brand over a number of years, so they’re open to continuing with that management role if a party wants them to.”
Gemtree currently sells 40,000 to 60,000 cases of wine per year, with national wholesale distribution through Oatley Fine Wine Merchants. Varieties include Grenache, Tempranillo, Fiano, Albarino and Shiraz.
Australia’s wine industry has been impacted by heavy tariffs imposed on Australian imports into China since November 2020, with exports declining in value by 11 per cent to $2.01 billion in the 12 months to 30 September 2022, according to a report by Wine Australia.
Despite the challenges facing the industry, Strachan says the McLaren Vale region has remained “really strong”.
“It’s a region that people want to be in. It’s got excellent visitations in relation to tourism, so there’s a whole lot of reasons why McLaren Vale itself is a really positive region to be in.”
Strachan says he is seeing interest from Australian buyers looking for established brands that are in a position to grow, as well as some offshore interest. It is expected to sell for over $10 million.
“The parties that are looking at this are attracted by the size of the winery and by the existing size of the brand, but also the scalability,” he says.
Expressions of interest for the entire business or individual components close on 28 February.
