Endeavour Drinks announced today that it has acquired leading McLaren Vale winery Chapel Hill.
Chapel Hill will become part of the newly formed, Paragon Wine Estates, which will also house Endeavour Drinks’ existing portfolio of premium and regional wine brands: Krondorf (Barossa Valley), Isabel Estate (Marlborough) and Riddoch (Coonawarra).
“This development is an important step in further enhancing our wine business ahead of the proposed transition of Endeavour Drinks to a stand-alone business after the planned merger with ALH in 2020," said Managing Director of Endeavour Drinks, Steve Donohue.
“Welcoming Chapel Hill to the group has inspired the creation of Paragon Wine Estates and is an exciting new element of our diverse Pinnacle Drinks business. These great wine producers deserve special attention. Each one has a rich history and unique traditions which form the basis of their wonderful stories. We hope to share those stories with wine lovers the world over.”
Chapel Hill, in the northern, more elevated sector of McLaren Vale, was acquired from the privately-held Swiss corporation Permafix.
The purchase includes the famous Chapel Hill cellar door, which incorporates an ironstone chapel built in 1865, together with associated buildings and 40 hectares under vine.
“Our team will remain with Chapel Hill and the winery’s important relationships with grape growers will also remain unchanged as a result of this acquisition," said longtime Chapel Hill Chief Winemaker and CEO Michael Fragos.
“Over the past five years we have enjoyed a very close and successful working relationship with Endeavour Drinks. The team at Chapel Hill now enthusiastically look forward to working with the Endeavour team to continue to enhance the wonderful reputation and pedigree that Chapel Hill has garnered since it was established in 1971.”
The Pinnacle Drinks business encompasses a wide range of important wine assets, partnerships and capabilities. These include numerous winegrowing partnerships across Australia and New Zealand, winemaking and wine storage facilities in the Barossa and Marlborough New Zealand, and wine packaging and bottling facilities in Barossa and McLaren Vale. Marketing and product development teams are located in South Australia and New South Wales, and an export team is located in Sydney and London.
The inclusion of Chapel Hill deepens Pinnacle’s long-term participation in the Australian wine industry and reinforces its commitment to McLaren Vale where the Vinpac wine bottling facility has operated since 2001.
