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Accolade Wines

The wine multinational "Accolade Wines" with headquarters in Old Reynella (suburb of Adelaide) in Australia is one of the world's largest wine trading companies. The origin of the company lies in 1853, when Thomas Hardy (1830-1912) laid the foundation for the later wine multinational (see there for the exact history). The property was constantly expanded through the purchase of other wineries and vineyards and Hardy became the largest Australian wine producer. In 1982, the Reynella winery was purchased and the renovated winery building became the headquarters of Thomas Hardy & Sons. A much-publicised coup was the purchase of the famous Ricasoli estate in Tuscany, Italy, in 1990. The family business was merged with the Berri Estates and Renmano co-operatives in 1992 to form the limited company BRL Hardy. Ricasoli, however, took his fate back into his own hands a year later. Finally, in 2003, BRL Hardy was incorporated into the US company Constellation Brands and renamed Hardy Wine Company Limited..

Thomas Hardy & Sons Wine Cellars - 1893 in Mile End (Adelaide)

In January 2011, Constellation Brands sold 80% of its subsidiaries "Constellation Wines Australia" and "Constellation Europe" to the Australian company CHAMP. The deal was valued at around AU$ 290 million (€ 212 million). The package included all Hardy brands (Australia), Kumala and Fish Hoek (South Africa) and Echo Falls (USA) with wineries and vineyards, as well as a 50% stake in the UK wine merchant Matthew Clark (major alcoholic beverage wholesaler). It is worth mentioning that CHAMP is involved in a wide variety of industries such as food and agribusiness, mining, media, transport, education, healthcare as well as financial services etc. Then in June 2011, the new wine multinational was renamed to the prestigious name Accolade Wines (award, accolade).

The extensive holdings now include vineyards and wineries in the four Australian states of South Australia (including the three areas of Coonawarra, McLaren Vale and Padthaway), Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia, in the USA, in New Zealand and in the French Languedoc-Roussillon the Domaine de la Baume. The total vineyard area of all farms adds up to around 3,200 hectares. Additional grapes are purchased from more than 1,000 contract winegrowers. Joint ventures exist with the two wineries Canepa in Chile and D'istinto in Sicily. This naturally results in a broadly diversified production range, especially in Australia.

Not all wine brands are independent wineries. For example, there is no Reynella winery. John Reynell (1809-1873) was the owner of a historically important winery, where Thomas Hardy also learned his trade. The suburb of Adelaide "Old Reynella", where the headquarters of Accolade Wines is located, was named after him. The brands or wineries are Amberley, Atlas Peak, Babycham, Banrock Station, Bay of Fires, Berri Estates, Brookland Valley, Country Manor, Da Luca, Echo Falls, Fish Hoek, Flagstone, Ginger Joe, Goundrey, Geyser Peak, Gran Terra, Hardy's, Houghton, House of Arras, Jack Rabbit, Kumala, Leasingham, Le Portail des Coteaux, Moondah Brook, Omni, Stanley Wines, Stones, Stowells, Renmano, Reynella, Ta Ku, Tintara, Yarra Burn and XYZin. In addition, Constellation Brands brands such as Inniskillin, Mondavi, Monkey Bay, Nobilo, Ravenswood and Turner Road, and Wine Group brands such as Paul Masson are also distributed.

At the beginning of 2012, a majority shareholding was acquired in the "Shanghai CWC Wine Trading Company", which until then had exclusively marketed Accolade products in China as a cooperation partner. The aim is to serve the emerging Asian market. The last deal announced at the end of 2013 was the takeover of prominent wine brands from New Zealand. Among the candidates are Mud House (with the two sub-brands Haymaker and Skyleaf) and Waipara Hills Wines (as of 2013). Accolade Wines has thus developed in a very short time into a global wine company with sales of the world's best-known wine brands in over 80 countries worldwide in all five continents. There are now subsidiaries in the UK, Europe, North America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and China. The company employs a total of over 1,800 people worldwide and is led by CEO Troy Christensen.

Image: By Bahudhara - Own Work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

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