The document summarizes several Australian wineries that have diversified their businesses beyond wine production. It provides examples of wineries that have started making cider, gin, beer, coffee and food to utilize their facilities and leverage their brand recognition. It discusses how these diversification efforts help provide new revenue streams, build destination brands, and capitalize on consumers' growing interest in products beyond just wine. The investments allow the wineries to look toward long term sustainability and profitability.

1. BEYOND
EXPERIENCE • KNOWLEDGE • RELATIONSHIPS
VALUER&BROKEREdition 11 © August 2014
INSIDE · ASSET WATCH · CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES · REGIONAL PROFILE: GLOBAL
WINE

2. 1 | Edition 11
ASSET WATCH
Ian, Wendy, Mel and Kate Hollick of Hollick
Wines, recently announced a majority investment
in their Coonawarra and Wrattonbully
vineyard and winery operations, by Hong Kong
based Yingda Investment Co Ltd., a division
of the Shenzhen Guoneng International
Trading Co. Ltd.(SGITCo) of China.
Gaetjens Langley is proud to have advised
Hollick wines on the investment of capital,
which forms a majority share of the business.
The Hollick family will maintain a significant
shareholding into the future and will continue
to operate the business with existing staff.
Ian Hollick, who built the winery with
Wendy, said the injection of capital from
the Chinese group, would enable the
family to continue “the proud tradition we
have created here at Hollick wines”.
“The investment provides financial
stability enabling us to look to the future
with great confidence,” Ian said.
“It also provides significant distribution
advantages for Hollick wines in the developing
Chinese wine market, where SGITCo have
operated for some time. We are delighted
HOLLICK WINES, COONAWARRA
AUSTRALIAN
VINTAGE SELLS
YALDARA WINERY
FOR $15.5 MILLION
On July 24th Australian Vintage Limited
announced to the ASX the signing of binding
agreements for the sale of the 10,000 tonne
Yaldara Winery and Brand in the Barossa Valley.
The off market transaction was negotiated by
Toby Langley, who introduced the parties in
April 2014. To achieve a successful outcome
in such a short period is a credit to the
principals and their advisors. Completion is
scheduled to occur in the later part of 2014,
after transfer of customary licences.
OUTLOOK 2014
Gaetjens Langley is once again a proud sponsor
of Australia’s Wine Outlook Conference which
will be held in Adelaide on October 1 and 2. The
theme this year is Taking Charge of the Future
and as one of the guest speakers Toby Langley
will address the issue of global competitiveness
and how Australia stacks up against other wine
producing nations. For information and registrations:
www.wfa.org.au/activities/outlook-conference.
we can guarantee the jobs of our workforce,
as well as the possibility of sourcing extra
fruit to meet future requirements.”
The Chinese group is involved in hospitality and
tourism, developing and owning a suite of five star
hotels and some of China’s best tourist resorts,
which include vineyard and winery operations.
The investment in the Hollick wine business will
allow an interchange of staff with these vineyard
and winery developments in China, providing new
experiences for employees of both businesses.
“The new partnership will also continue
the process of building the Hollick brand
and concentrating on the values of family
history, provenance, heritage, rarity, ethical
responsibility and critical acclaim,” Ian said.
“The Chinese company’s confidence in the
Hollick brand and the Coonawarra region
is reassuring for many in Coonawarra.
“It’s very much business-as-usual and after the
past few years looking down a tunnel with a dim
light at the end, we are thrilled to see the sun.
“Everybody at Hollick is very
excited about the future.”
VALUERBROKER

3. Edition 11 | 2
Check www.wineryforsale.com.au for more details.
CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES
Caves Road Wilyabrup
Margaret River, Cellar Door
A unique opportunity has arisen to purchase a newly launched brand
in a prestige location including an established vineyard and cellar
door. The property is located in the much sought golden triangle of
Caves Road Wilyabrup in the premium Margaret River region.
Key details include:
• 9 hectares established vineyard on a 21 hectare site.
• Newly renovated cellar door building with sealed driveway
and car park.
• Good water supply from a lined dam.
• Brand launched last year with sales continuing to grow.
• Well run with independent management who can be retained if required.
Vineyard Portfolio
Margaret River
An opportunity to be part of one of the largest vineyard aggregations
in the premium Margaret River region. It is well run with
independent management who can be retained if required.
Key details include:
• Established, efficient vineyard aggregation with 431ML
water licences on 6 titles.
• 129 hectares mature vineyard on 200 hectare site.
• Substantial building improvements with 3rd party rental income.
• Wine supply agreements in place for total production.
Heathcote Winery, Victoria
• An investment opportunity in a super premium
winery in the heart of one of Australia’s premier
cool climate shiraz regions
• Established in 1978
• 13.7 hectares on 2 vineyards
• 8,000 case sales
• Lucrative cellar door and mail order business
• Established distribution in Australia with Negociants Australia
• Gallery/café and apartment adjacent to winery and cellar
door complex in the main street of Heathcote including
240 tonne winery.
• One hour from Melbourne airport
Escarpment Vineyard
Martinborough, New Zealand
The Escarpment vineyard is located in Martinborough,
north of Wellington, and is one of New Zealand’s
most revered producers of Pinot Noir.
The major shareholder in Escarpment, the Melbourne based
Kirby family has decided to offer for sale their shares in this
extraordinary and visionary pinot noir producer.
Schild Estate, Barossa Valley
Equity partner sought to join the renowned Schild Estate, est in 1998;
Key features of the business include:
• Annual sales of 50,000 doz per annum with a focus on Barossa Shiraz.
• Lyndoch Cellar door opened in 2000 and purpose built winery
constructed in 2010.
• Portfolio includes Estate Shiraz, Ben Schild Reserve Shiraz and Limited
Release Moorooroo Shiraz.
• National distribution and strong exports to the United States.
EXPERIENCE • KNOWLEDGE • RELATIONSHIPS

4. 3 | Edition 11
In an industry which celebrates the shift from bark
to aluminium screwcap as its biggest innovation
in the last 20 years, there is at last a new breed of
Australian wine entrepreneurs and risk takers
emerging in the second decade of the 21st century.
These true innovators are responding to
dynamic changes in consumer demand, they
are building on the strength of their brand and
in doing so, they are creating a more valuable
(and saleable) long term business asset.
“These new diversifiers” have looked at their
idle commercial infrastructure – tanks, pumps,
filters, refrigeration, barrel halls, bottling
lines and cellar doors – and seizing upon their
accumulated marketing knowledge, have decided
to develop products which are “beyond wine”.
The Australian’s wine writer Max Allen
might have been the catalyst for at
least one of these innovations.
Allen went on a mission to flush out the best
boutique ciders in this country (anything
without the word Strongbow in it) and found an
emerging range of local and imported artisan
scrumpies. He argued that cider had many of
the same qualities as wine – varietal fruit based,
natural, depth of flavour, aromatic, alcoholic
and diverse in style from cloudy to clear, still
to sparkling. It also offered a nice refreshing
alternative to chardonnay or sauvignon blanc.
Within months some wineries responded to
this public discussion using their knowledge
of fruit fermentation and alcoholic beverage
product development to enter a new market.
Australia’s most famous shiraz region inspired
some ingenious brands: David Franz Lehmann,
son of Barossa wine legend Peter, made a grape
and apple Golden Scrumpy; Kellermeister
developed its very popular Boots Cider made by
its former winemaker Trevor Jones; and Oscar and
Hugo Bowen (sons of Balthazar’s Anita Bowen
and former Wolf Blass executive Randolph) last
year launched Squashed Apple Cider from their
Barossa Valley Cider Company. There is also
McLaren Vale’s Ekhidna Wines turning their
hand to cider (as well as beer and ginger beer) and
Oakvale, one of Hunter Valley’s oldest wineries
making a sparkling apple and pear cider.
Of these winemakers turned cider brewers,
one of the most authentic is Punt Road.
The Napoleone family arrived in Australia in
the 1920s and after World War II planted an
BEYOND WINE Stephen Strachan
and Toby Langley
apple orchard at Wandin in Victoria. Their Red
Rich Fruit Company became one of the biggest
producers and wholesalers of stone and pome
fruit in Australia which provided the cash for the
family to purchase the old St Hubert’s vineyard
in Coldstream in the Yarra Valley in 1987.
They built a winery in 1999 and started selling
the now very successful Punt Road wine range in
2001. Naturally enough as orchardists they also
adapted quickly to the idea of alcoholic apple
juice and Napoleone Cider seemed an obvious
addition to their wine range. It is a serious cider –
family grown Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Fuji and
Sundowner apples providing a balanced flavour
(with no juice concentrate) and fermentation
kicking off with a Rhone Valley white wine yeast.
ULTIMATE DIVERSIFICATION
Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander is perhaps the
ultimate winery diversification phenomenon
in Australia. Created by beverage entrepreneur
Phil Sexton, a trained brewer who starting
Perth’s Matilda Bay Brewing Company and
Devil’s Lair winery in Margaret River in the
1980s, before selling the brewery to Fosters
and the winery to Southcorp, Giant Steps
ticks just about every consumer box.
Giant Steps is true to its ambitions to make
super-premium pinot and chardonnay in the
cool climate Yarra Valley region. But with a glass
of pinot gris or sangiovese you can also sample
sourdough breads from the artisan bakery, mix
that with cheese (made by winemaker Steve
Flamsteed who studied farmhouse cheesemaking
in France) or enjoy the company’s own Innocent
Bystander on-site roasted coffee blend.
And to complete the circle you can enjoy an
Innocent Bystander moscato, at about the same
alcohol level as beer but twice as pretty (and
served sparkling direct from keg to tap). It’s made
from virtually worthless Gordo and Black Muscat,
doesn’t see a whisker of expensive oak and turns
cash flow so fast it must make Sexton’s head spin.
Across the other side of the country James
Clarke, who worked in marketing roles with Evans
and Tate, Pipers Brook and Sandalford and his
boutique distiller mate Paul White, have created
another “beyond wine” brew, West Winds Gin
which blends local and imported botanicals. They
have utilised the skills of an experienced spirits
marketer Jeremy Spencer (ex Brown Foreman
and formerly of Woodford Reserve and Appleton
Estate Rum) to create The Tailor Made Spirits
Company. West Winds has already won gold at
the 2011 and 2013 San Francisco International
Spirit Awards and is well established in
the bar and independent liquor scene.
And if you think this artisan gin is just a bit of
fun by a few winemakers who like a crisp GT,
think again. McLaren Vale’s Salopian Inn, now
run by winemaker Elena Brooks and chef Karena
Armstrong, stocks no less than 168 gins from the
UK, US and Australia – and that is right in the
middle of one of our most famous red wine regions.
But diversification is not just about the clear spirit.
As demand for the beers our father’s drank
(VB, Crown Lager, Tooheys, West End)
declines, Australians seem to have a tirelessly
growing thirst for exotic craft beers.
There’s Pike’s Oakbank Beer which has a track
record going back to the 1860s when the family
were brewers and cordial makers; next door
neighbour Clare winery Paulett’s Last Minute
Bitter; Knappstein’s Enterprise Winery and
Brewery, also in Clare (and supported by
GIN ON THE RISE
While gin has been around since the Middle Ages, recent data shows it
has enjoyed a renaissance in Australia over the last five years.
Roy Morgan Research’s latest report shows that in 2009, 636,000 Aussie adults drank gin in any given
four-week period — but by 2013 this figure had grown by almost 50% to 947,000. While slightly more
women (483,000) than men (464,000) drank gin in 2013, the spirit’s popularity has risen almost equally
among both genders. Men accounted for 49% of gin drinkers last year, just as they did in 2009.
Furthermore, gin’s popularity is growing among all age groups. Whereas 91,000 18-24 year olds drank
gin in an average four weeks during 2009, this figure had surged to 175,000 by 2013 — a 92% increase.
The number of gin drinkers aged between 25 and 34 also shot up
during the same period, from 126,000 to 205,000.
VALUERBROKER

5. Edition 11 | 4
Lion Nathan) and Willoughby Park Winery
and its Boston Brewery in Denmark, WA.
There is also the Barossa Valley Brewing
Company in Tanunda, Vale Ale in McLaren
Vale and Bluetongue in the Hunter Valley
(which local winery Tyrrell’s was involved in),
leveraging the strong brand names of their
regions and banking on the consumer desire
for a cleanser after a day of tasting Shiraz.
What do all of these projects have in common?
These winemakers are recognising that
while they still love the excitement of vintage
and the mysteries of an aged pinot, the
consumer’s interest in wine is not endless.
With 9 out of 10 wineries failing to make a profit
in Australia in the last few years and with retail
monopolies cramping distribution, winery
owners have decided that the only way they
might ever capitalise on their vast investment
and retire with enough cash to count, is to
listen to the customer and add value (and a
diversified product or two) to what they have.
DESTINATION BRANDING
Four Pillars Gin is one of the newest diversification
products birthed from a wine gene bank.
Partner and marketing director Cameron
McKenzie is no newcomer to left field thinking,
having cut his marketing teeth at Punt Road
and Innocent Bystander/Giant Steps.
According to Cameron the greatest contribution
new product development can make to a
winery, is to build a destination brand.
“Innocent Bystander is the benchmark for
winery diversification in Australia,” Cameron
says. “It’s a mecca for Melbourne visitors but it
is also a destination for locals who know that
Thursday nights and Saturday mornings are
the time to drop in and grab a coffee or a loaf
of sour dough before the tourists turn up.
“But it hasn’t happened by chance. There was a
meticulous strategy from the start that has been
followed painstakingly in every detail: from the
quality of the coffee to the freshness of the bread to
the customer experience at the restaurant table.
“There has also been a huge commitment to
marketing, which I think some wineries overlook
in their excitement about making wine.
“It’s something I learnt from Phil
Sexton that investing in the brand is as
important as funding the product.
“With Four Pillars we allocate as much of our
budget to marketing, as we do to production.”
Cameron and his partners chose gin after
initially thinking about a craft tonic water
mixer. Then their research revealed a huge
boom in the UK and USA in craft spirits.
As the whisky niche had been filled by Tasmanian
distillers such as Lark, Sullivan’s Cove, Hellyer’s
Road and Nant, they decided on what appeared to
be a simpler proposition – the drink of choice in
1700s London, juniper infused 38% white spirit.
Four Pillars imported the first CARL copper pot
still from Germany that had entered the country
for several generations and started making their
gin using Australian and Asian botanicals –
cinnamon and star anise, lemon myrtle, cardamom
and pepper berry – as their point of difference.
As with all new business adventures the devil was in
the detail – like the outrageous $25 excise charged on
every $70/bottle which has to be paid weekly on sales,
and the expense of setting up a bonded distillery.
“The tax on spirits is huge,” Cameron said.
“Cider is more appealing because it attracts
WET in the same way that wine does...
and it makes the accounting easier.
“But there are already a lot of ciders on the market
and there are a lot more private label ciders appearing
– from big retailers, catering companies, hotels.
Their latest investment is a building near Healesville
which will house their distillery along with a craft
spirit cellar door and tourism complex over the next
year – turning them into a destination brand.
“We work off each other in the Yarra,” Cameron said.
“There is lots of diversity with Punt Road and its
Napoleone Cider, Innocent Bystander, the TarraWarra
Museum of Art and the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie
(which is a hit with kids - you have to keep kids happy).
“There is already a balance between pure wine
cellar door experience and other attractions,
and we hope Four Pillars will add a luxury
craft spirit experience to the mix.”
Like all new projects, will we see a flood of
new gins cluttering the market following
Four Pillars courageous lead?
“Craft spirits are where wine was 20 years ago,”
he said. “So yes we expect to see more gins.
“It’s a risk, but it’s a risk doing nothing – there is just so
much wine on the market that the point of excitement
about new wine labels seems to have passed.
“We want to get our brand well established before
the next wave of innovators catches up.”
“THE IMPORTANT THING ABOUT CRAFT SPIRITS,
IS THEIR POINT OF DIFFERENCE. AFTER
MARKETING WINE FOR 10 YEARS IT IS A LOT
EASIER TO START A CONVERSATION WITH A
RESTAURATEUR ABOUT PREMIUM GIN THAN YET
ANOTHER BOTTLE OF PINOT OR SHIRAZ.”
EXPERIENCE • KNOWLEDGE • RELATIONSHIPS

6. 5 | Edition 11
GLOBAL PROFILE Stephen Strachan
MARKET FOR THE
EFFICIENT AND BRAVE
World wine markets are characterised by a complex
interplay between producers and consumers,
changing value-chain dynamics and the vast
differences between demand for commodity or
commercial wine and demand for luxury products.
The laws of supply and demand apply, but so too
do a range of other factors that are difficult for
economists and analysts to predict. Why else
would vineyard values vary so dramatically?
The table below is reproduced from the Knight
Frank Global vineyard Index 2013 and illustrates
the vast range of vineyard values world wide.
The Barossa is the only Australian region that
rates a mention, and is probably seen by outsiders
as indicative of Australia. In reality, the Barossa
outperforms every other Australian region at
present on vineyard valuation on a like-for-like
basis (excluding other factors that drive purchasing
decisions, such as proximity to capital cities for
lifestyle investments). The maximum value in the
Barossa has been tested over the last 12 months
or so, with at least one sale at $100,000/ha, and
speculation that the Torbreck acquisition of the
Gnadenfrei vineyard was in excess of $400,000/
ha, albeit for a relatively small vineyard.
There are a few clear take-home messages
from a glance at these values.
Firstly, celebrated regions such as Bordeaux see a
massive divergence in values – and this is hardly
surprising for a region with a vineyard area almost
as large as Australia’s. Wines sold (and vineyard
valuations) from a First-Growth vineyard in Medoc
may attract stratospheric prices and all of the
media headlines, but the reality for a vineyard in
Entre-Deux-Mers is vastly different and probably on
a par with the majority of Australian vineyards at
present. Unlike the Australian industry, the French
are very good at only highlighting their successes
and ignoring the rest, notwithstanding the fact
that the ‘rest’ is the vast majority of their industry.
The second take-home message is that the
Australian category is underweight on vineyard
values compared with most of our counterparts.
The Barossa is the Australian industry’s star
performer at present, yet top-end values bear
no resemblance to those achieved in Bordeaux,
Tuscany or Napa Valley. Most Australian
vineyards that have traded over the last few
years have been below $50,000 per hectare,
and for many, below $25,000 per hectare.
There is no shortage of wine in the world. The reality
is that there is a shortage of wine that consumers
want and a surplus of wine that consumers want
less – the same applies to vineyard values. The old
saying that a man with his head in an oven and
his feet in the freezer is, on ‘average’, about right,
was surely written about the world of wine.
Parts of Bordeaux, Marlborough, Napa Valley,
Barossa Valley and Tuscany are ‘hot’ at the moment.
But for every success story in these regions or
elsewhere, there are plenty of others with ‘their
feet in the freezer’ having a pretty tough time. And
regrettably, the majority of the Australian category
is in the freezer at present. If ever there was a lesson
in vineyard economics, it is now. Strong brands,
good business models, balance sheets, and above-
all, a commitment to achieving excellence in the
vineyard are the reasons behind the stratospheric
vineyard valuations across the globe. For the rest
of the industry, anywhere in the world, if you don’t
have these characteristics, you are a ‘price-taker’
and had better get ready to buckle in and accept
the vagaries of international supply and demand
shifts and currency movements at a minimum,
which are completely out of your control.
‘EXCESS-SUPPLY’
The emergence of the ‘New World’ as a prominent
producer of wine internationally has aided a
shift to country and varietal brands. At the same
time though, the constant ‘excess-supply’ in the
market has given retailers the opportunity to
‘cherry-pick’ between similar categories, thus
commoditising the lower-priced section of the
market and reducing the power and prominence of
brands. These days, wine is traded freely between
markets, with bulk wine sales almost outstripping
bottled wine sales from the New World (The
Incredible Bulk, Rabobank, January 2012).
Wine production internationally remains
dominated by the European powerhouses
of France, Italy and Spain, though all are
overseeing production declines as their
own internal wine consumption drops from
exceptionally high levels of a decade ago.
Source: Knight Frank Global Vineyard Index 2013
INTERNATIONAL VINEYARD
COMPARISONS
VINEYARD VALUES $/ha (range)
Minimum Maximum
Mendoza, Argentina 30,000 100,000
Tuscany, Italy 135,000 200,000
Hawkes Bank, New Zealand 130,000 170,000
Colchagua Valley, Chile 30,000 70,000
Napa Valley, US 135,000 588,000
Barossa, Australia 30,000 80,000
Piedmont Lombardy, Italy 202,000 1,200,000
Ribera De Duero, Spain 40,000 50,000
Bordeaux, France 20,500 2,500,000
Western Cape, South Africa 4,000 600,000
VALUERBROKER

7. Edition 11 | 6
Concurrently, New World production
increases, driven by Australia, South Africa,
Chile, the US, South Africa and Argentina,
are adding to global supply and ensuring
that the marketplace has ample choice.
Prior to 2013, global supply had been easing on the
back of shorter harvests in Europe in 2011 and 2012
and in the US in 2010 and 2011. At the time a few
analysts were showing some concerns about wine
shortages. In fact, a report released in October 2013
by Morgan Stanley predicted that the world was
‘running out of wine’ to great fanfare. This proved to
be premature and inaccurate, and there was ample
evidence at the time to dispute the claim. We have
seen production increases in Europe in 2013 and
in the US in 2012 and 2013. Overall, 2013 in general
saw production increases in most major producing
countries marking the end of the possible emerging
wine shortage.
Looking forward, Rabobank expected the carryover
of higher global stocks from 2013 to result in a
more competitive market environment in 2014.
Shorter crops in Argentina and Chile in 2014
may negate pressure to some extent; however
Australia, South Africa and New Zealand have all
had healthy 2014 crops. Of course, the prognosis
for the vintage in the northern hemisphere in 2014
is uncertain and will be for a short time yet.
The US wine market is now the largest wine market
in the world, and bulk wine prices into the US
are a strong indicator of global market dynamics,
particularly for commercial wine categories.
The indicators for bulk wine sales in the US market
are generally down or neutral, with Californian
Cabernet Sauvignon and most wine from Chile
and France being the notable exceptions.
US inventory balances have recovered from
their ‘short’ position and are now heading
back into a ‘long’ position, though far from
chronic, as can be seen in the table below.
NET INVENTORY
BALANCE
2010 12%
2011 -4%
2012 -10%
2013 3%Source: Silicon Valley Bank Proprietary Research
CONCLUSIONS
‘Premiumisation’ or ‘trading-up’ or ‘quality
improvements’ have been discussed in the
Australian wine category for many years. And
while, aspirationally, it makes sound sense to
implement initiatives to improve returns for the
wine being sold, and ultimately for the valuations
of the assets, there are too few that are actually
demonstrating a result from this focus.
The commodity or commercial wine marketplace
is getting more competitive, not less. Australian
businesses have proved adept at maintaining
market share in this category and there is no
reason to think that that will change anytime soon.
However, with the Australian currency remaining
strong and international bulk prices easing, this
market is really only for the efficient and the brave.
Opportunities in this category clearly exist, and
there are some notable success stories, but for
an industry that remains fragmented in large
part, consolidation will inevitably continue.
For the majority of the Australian category,
opportunity will come from brand building
– whether it is a proprietary brand or a
regional brand. In the meantime, excess
supply from Australia will continue to
jeopardise brand-building prospects, as
the Australian category (whatever that is!)
continues to condition consumers and the
retailers to good quality wines at low prices.
Source: OIV
WINE PRODUCTION (ML)
GERMANY
ARGENTINA
CHILE
AUSTRALIA
SOUTH
AFRICA
10,000
13,000
12,000
12,000
11,000
11,000
11,500
6,000
9,000
6,000
CHINA
SPAIN
US
ITALY
FRANCE
13,000
40,000
21,300
43,000
42,000
10,000
41,000
21,300
52,000
57,000
WINE PRODUCTION 2013
WINE PRODUCTION 2000
CIATTI BULK WINE PRICES: MARCH 2014 ($US) / LITRE
Australia NZ Argentina Chile California France South Africa
Generic White 0.47-0.71 0.37-0.39 – 0.69-0.75 0.66-0.85 1.09-1.16 0.43-0.47
Chardonnay 0.47-0.71 0.65-0.85 – 1.00-1.45 1.05-1.32 – 1.23-1.30 0.56-0.68
Sauvignon Blanc
0.71-0.85
3.74-4.41
(Marlborough)
0.85-1.15 1.12-1.23 1.12-1.23
Pinot Noir 1.72-2.11 –
Syrah 0.80-1.03 0.65-0.85 – 1.19-1.45 – 1.02-1.05
Cab Sav 0.80-1.08 0.65-0.85 – 0.61-4.00 – 1.45-1.98 – 1.02-1.09 0.64-0.75 –
Malbec 0.90-1.00 – 0.75-2.00
– denotes trend Source: Ciatti Global Market Update – March 2014
EXPERIENCE • KNOWLEDGE • RELATIONSHIPS

8. 7 | Edition 11
www.wineryforsale.com.au
Gaetjens Langley
185 Fullarton Road, Dulwich, South Australia 5065
PO Box 722, Kent Town, South Australia 5071
Telephone: +61 8 8364 5600
Facsimile: +61 8 8364 5622
Email: info@gaetjenslangley.com.au
ABN 64 471 514 369
Gaetjens Pickett Valuers
185 Fullarton Road, Dulwich, South Australia 5065
PO Box 146, Kent Town SA 5071
Telephone +61 8331 1633
Facsimile: +61 8 8364 5622
Email: info@gpvaluers.com.au
ABN 90 791 710 106
KEN GARGETT IS ONE OF AUSTRALIA'S LEADING
WINE WRITERS, CONTRIBUTING COLUMNS TO THE
BRISBANE COURIER MAIL, HERALD SUN, GOURMET
TRAVELLER WINE AND CRACKAWINES.COM.AU.
HE IS AN UNASHAMED LOVER OF THE GOOD THINGS
IN LIFE: CHAMPAGNE, CIGARS, FISHING AND TRAVEL.
ON A RECENT TRIP TO EUROPE HE RAN INTO A MAN
AFTER HIS OWN HEART, OUR OWN COLIN GAETJENS.
THIS IS THEIR STORY...
Caught up with Colin Gaetjens in Paris to head
across to the Mosel. Needless to say, at least to
those who know him, he would be doing the
driving and navigating. After forgetting what
side of the road he was supposed to be on about
18 times, and over-correcting about 18 times, we
finally come to a large flowing body of water.
“That would be the River Something,” he proudly
announces. Marco Polo couldn't have put it better.
We finally reach the winery of Egon Muller at the
appointed time (or thereabouts). Egon after a long
drive has a group of 20-something sommeliers
from all over Europe with him and they are about
to climb one of the world's steepest vineyards,
Wiltinger, and drink some 20-year-old Auslese
at the summit. Would we be interested?
Absolutely”, declares Colin, adding that he'd show
these young whippersnappers a thing or two (yes,
he does talk like that). Off we set. What seemed
a very long time later, we emerge from the vines
at a ledge running along the top – so we thought.
Sadly, this ledge is about a quarter of the way
up. Sir Edmund Gaetjens throws in the towel.
All too much. Don't have anything to prove to
these young whippersnappers, most of whom are
now little more than dots on far distant slopes.
I tell him I'll see him later. No, he demands, you
have to help me down. Some days just keep giving.
But not here. Too steep.
Where isn’t?
We'll find somewhere.
We don't.
So we set off down a slope that would embarrass
a mountain goat. I keep seeing newspaper
reports declaring that one of Germany's
prized vineyards was today destroyed by
two fat Aussies, avalanching down it.
Meanwhile, Egon has skipped back down the
slopes to assist. We finally get back to earth.
Egon suggests that perhaps we'd like to drive up
(seriously? We could have done that in the first
place?). So we head around and up the backroads.
By the time we get there, the somms are all
guzzling Auslese. Inevitably, we cop merry hell
from them (deservedly so). Australia's good name
took a fearful beating that afternoon. While I am
running around trying to convince them all that
Gaetjens is actually a Kiwi and nothing to do with
us, he takes a turn for the worse. Slumps against
a vineyard wall. Everyone rushes over to assist
(some people will do anything to be the centre
of attention). He has, in truth, gone whiter than
a KKK AGM and really does not look good. He
can't speak (silver lining?). We carry him across
to the car and lie him down. Everyone is trying
to work out if we can get an ambulance up to the
summit or where the nearest hospital is (well,
perhaps not everyone. I’m wondering if his wife
knows he brought a suitcase of '99 Burgundies
with him and if she'd notice if they went missing).
We manage to drive back to the winery, give him
a reviving drink and within minutes he is arguing,
complaining, directing everyone around, abusing
the GPS machine because places are not where
he believes they should be and generally giving a
critique of the shortcomings of everyone else on
the road – in other words, back to his old self.
In his defence, it was extremely steep
and he is old, fat and unfit.
We have put down his unexpected grumpiness to
the fact that he forgot his Vegemite and as anyone
who witnessed 'the Madrid incident' knows,
Gaetjens and his Vegemite are not easily parted.
For those not in the northern hemisphere that
fateful day, our hero arrived at the Madrid
airport for an internal flight, dressed in his
prize blue pork pie hat (who travels with a
different hat for each day of the week?).
He had with him, in his hand luggage, a tube of
Vegemite. The unsuspecting woman at Spanish
Customs advised him that she was confiscating
it (under the 'no paste' rule – or possibly the 'good
taste' rule). She was advised, in return, that she
was not. Chaos followed and within minutes, a
crowd of, without exaggeration, 400 bemused
onlookers had gathered to witness the battle.
Our hero first regaled the poor woman with tales of
the glories of the slime and hence why he should be
allowed to take it with him – she had absolutely no
idea what it was or what it could be used for but she
was not buying this myth that anyone would be so
insane as to actually try eating it. When that didn't
work, Colin tried identifying the shortcomings of
Spanish Customs. That worked about as well as
you'd expect. He then moved on to his personal
thoughts on Spain itself. As far as I could work out,
Spain's greatest crime was... not being France.
Eventually, telling them that this wasn't over, Colin
abandoned his Vegemite (to be honest, it pretty
much was all over by then). For the next hour in
the airport, I watched little children duck behind
the legs of adults to hide when they saw him
coming and I am convinced that Spanish parents
now put the fear of God into their kids by telling
them tales of how the man in the weird hat will
come for them in the night if they don't behave.
On a more serious note, back in the Mosel,
Egon wanted to do a comparison of one of his
wines – 2011 Scharzhofberger Spatlese – under
screwcap and cork. No prizes for guessing
which looked absolutely scintillating and which
looked very reserved, and a touch dull.
But the highlight of the day came, when
in mid tasting (we were outdoors), Egon
fired up a big cigar. Imagine what the need-
a-cause, rent-a-mouth crowd would say
about anyone doing that back home.
TRAVELS WITH THE COLONEL
VALUERBROKER