Randall Wine Group (RWG) has acquired organic wine company, Gemtree Wines, as the group seeks to become dominant in the organic market segment.
RWG owns Seppeltsfield Estate in the Barossa and Penny’s Hill Estate in McLaren Vale. It has more than 9000 acres of vineyard holdings in eight South Australian wine regions.
RWG executive chair and proprietor, Warren Randall, said the acquisition made the group well placed to become a major player in the global organic wine market, which has grown 250 per cent in the last 10 years.
Gemtree Wines was founded by Mike and Melissa Brown in 1998. It exports to Canada, the US, Hong Kong, Denmark, Singapore, New Zealand, and Sweden. It was also a significant exporter to China before the tariffs were applied in March 2021.
The potential re-opening of China presents another excellent export opportunity for Gemtree as it reclaims its previous position, Randall said.
“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.
“Australia possesses natural climatic attributes that are conducive to the crafting of organic wine in both the vineyard and the winery. Our hot and dry Mediterranean climate in McLaren Vale is entirely suited to world class organic and bio-dynamic wines and yet we are the 11th in the world, in terms of organic vineyard area with only 1 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, UK, US, and Sweden. Canada, Japan, and New Zealand also present future opportunity,” Randall said.
RWG acquired Hiltop organic vineyard in McLaren Vale earlier this year, also planted 25 years ago. The 200-acre Hiltop vineyard is the largest single, 100 per cent organic vineyard in a premium region in Australia and will be managed by the “Australian master of organic viticulture”, Melissa Brown.
Gemtree’s organic wine portfolio will be overseen by co-founder, Mike Brown, at the Boar’s Rock winery in McLaren Vale – the largest, premium organically certified winery in Australia, acquired in 2019.
The global expansion of the Gemtree brand will also be supported by a number of private McLaren Vale organically certified growers.
“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 bio-dynamically 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,” Randall said.
