Misplaced Pages

Accolade Wines is an international wine business with headquarters in South Australia and corporate offices in Melbourne. It has been owned by the Carlyle Group, an American private equity company, since 2018.

Accolade, which predominantly uses the Hardy's label, is one of the worlds largest winemakers, has more than 1700 employees around the world, with operations in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, mainland Europe, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. As at 2022 it was ranked the second largest Australian wine company by production and second largest in terms of total revenue.

History

Thomas Hardy and Sons

Accolade Wines traces its beginning to Thomas Hardy and Sons, a company founded in 1853 which grew to become Australia's largest winemaker. The company headquarters are in Old Reynella, South Australia.

At 20 years of age, Thomas Hardy arrived in South Australia after sailing from the English county of Devon in 1850. He worked at Reynella Farm for John Reynell, then drove cattle to the Victorian goldfields. Hardy used the money he had earned to purchase a property on the banks of the River Torrens, which he named 'Bankside'. Shiraz and Grenache vines were planted on the Bankside property. Wine was sold locally and in England, and the profits enabled Hardy to buy the Tintara Vineyard Company about 1876. Hardy steadily expanded the company over the years, purchasing a bottling plant at Mile End, cellars on Currie Street in Adelaide, and a disused flour mill in McLaren Vale.

In 1938, then chairman Tom Mayfield Hardy was killed in an aeroplane crash along with other leading South Australian winemakers. His cousin, Kenneth Hardy, became chairman. In 1968, the company established extensive vineyards in the Padthaway area. In 1976, Thomas Hardy and Sons made its first corporate acquisition by purchasing the London-based Emu Wine Company, which included Houghton (Western Australia's largest winery) and Morphett Vale. In 1982, the company purchased Chateau Reynella, where Thomas Hardy had first worked, and converted it to its headquarters. In 1989 the company sold a portion of the Houghton Estate known as "Oakover Grounds" to a Swan Valley family. Further expansion came in 1992, when Thomas Hardy & Sons merged with Berri Renmano Limited to form what then became Australia's second largest wine group, BRL Hardy Limited.

In 2003, the brands of BRL Hardy and those of Constellation Brands were merged to create the world's largest international wine business. BRL Hardy Limited was renamed The Hardy Wine Company. In 2006, Constellation Brands acquired Vincor International, adding the West Australian brands of Amberley and Goundrey to the Hardy portfolio. On 31 March 2008, The Hardy Wine Company changed its name to Constellation Wines Australia.

Accolade Wines: 2011-present

In February 2011, Constellation Brands sold 80 per cent of Constellation Wines Australia, along with sister company Constellation Europe, to CHAMP Private Equity. Constellation Brands retained a 20% stake in the newly named Accolade Wines. In October 2015, Accolade sold its 50% share of British drinks distributor Matthew Clark. In November 2016, the company acquired the Australian premium wine portfolio (Fine Wine Partners) of beverage giant Lion.

In March 2017, CHAMP Private Equity scrapped its plans to float Accolade on the Australian Securities Exchange. The decision was made after overtures from potential Chinese buyers, and a drop in the value of the British pound due to Brexit. Until 2018, the company was 80 per cent owned by the Australian private equity firm CHAMP Private Equity and 20 per cent owned by the United-States-based alcohol giant Constellation Brands. 100% of the company was sold to the Carlyle Group in 2018. In October 2019, Accolade divested itself of the historic vineyards and buildings at the Houghton Estate in the Swan Valley to move production of Houghton Wines to its Nannup facility. The site was purchased by the Yukich family that had previously purchased the Oakover Grounds portion of the estate. The old Houghton site is now known as Nikola Estate.

Operations

Accolade Wines sells its products in over 80 countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, the United States, Japan, China, and across Continental Europe.

It has branch offices in the United Kingdom (Weybridge and Bristol), Australia (Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne), and South Africa (Stellenbosch), as well as in Moscow, Warsaw, Shanghai, Singapore, Beijing and California.

The business is the largest wine company by volume and value in the United Kingdom and Ireland, a highly-competitive market with thin margins. Its popular brands there include:

• Hardys, the number one Australian wine brand in the UK and a significant wine brand in mainland Europe,
• Kumala, the UK's number one South African wine brand,
• Echo Falls, the third largest wine brand in the UK,
• Stowells, the number one wine brand in the UK on-premises trade,
• Banrock Station, the UK's number one environmentally friendly wine brand,
• Wine fusions such as Stone's Ginger Wine, Ginger Joe alcoholic ginger beer and Babycham perry,
• Californian brands such as Geyser Peak, Atlas Peak and XYZin, drawing on the Sonoma and Atlas Peak regions.

The chief executive from October 2015 to August 2016 was Paul Schaafsma, who previously worked for Australian Vintage. From August 2016 to April 2017, the CEO was former APAC GM of Sales, Michael East. The current Chief Executive Officer is Robert Foye, who was named CEO 1 May 2020.

Wine labels / Brands

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (December 2016)

See also

• Australian wine
• Cult wine
• South Australian wine
• List of wineries in McLaren Vale
• Constellation Brands
• James Hardy – former chairman.

References

1. Accolade Wines > Management Archived 15 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 23 May 2020.
2. "ACCOLADE WINES BACKS SCOTLAND'S DRS SCHEME". The Drinks Business. 22 February 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
3. ^ Macdonald, Anthony; Thompson, Sarah (5 April 2018). "CHAMP secures $1b deal for Australian winemaker Accolade Wines". Australian Financial Review. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
4. ^ Berry, Petrina (1 June 2018). "US firm looks to Asia after buying SA-based Accolade Wines". InDaily. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
5. "Australia's largest wine companies by total wine production". winetitles.com. winetitles media. 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
6. "Australia's largest wine companies by total revenue". winetitles.com. winetitles media. 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
7. Hardy, T. K. (2001). The Australian Wine Pictorial Atlas. Brighton, South Australia: Vintage Image Productions. ISBN 1-876303-01-8.
8. ^ O'Neill, Sally (1972). "Hardy, Thomas (1830–1912)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
9. Burden, Rosemary (1996). "Hardy, Kenneth Thomas (1900–1970)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
10. "Our Heritage: Company Chronology". Constellation Wines Australia. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
11. ^ Evans, Simon (28 September 2015). "Paul Schaafsma the new boss in Accolade Wines reshuffle". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
12. "Conviviality deal with Matthew Clark clears last hurdle". The Drinks Business. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
13. "Completion of acquisition and change of name" (PDF). Conviviality Plc. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
14. ^ Thompson, Sarah (2 December 2016). "Accolade Wines to kick off non-deal roadshow next week". StreetTalk. The Australian Financial Review. p. 18.
15. Australian Associated Press (14 November 2016). "Lion sells Aussie wine brands to Accolade". News.com.au. News Limited. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
16. Evans, Simon (7 March 2017). "Brexit blues and China overtures end Accolade IPO plans". The Australian Financial Review. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
17. Hooke, Huon (13 November 2019). "Local syndicate buys Houghton Winery". The Real Review.
18. "Article on "Drinks International", 13th August 2018". Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
19. ^ "Our Portfolio: Australia". Accolade Wines. 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
20. ^ "Our Portfolio: Chile". Accolade Wines. 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
21. ^ "Our Portfolio:North America". Accolade Wines. 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
22. ^ "Our Portfolio: United Kingdom". Accolade Wines. 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
23. ^ "Our Portfolio: Italy". Accolade Wines. 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
24. ^ "Our Portfolio: New Zealand". Accolade Wines. 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
25. "Alcohol Emporium – Fruit Fusion Summary".
26. ^ "Our Portfolio: South Africa". Accolade Wines. 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
27. Meredith, Booth (25 June 2008). "Hardy's poised to be world leader". The Advertiser. Adelaide: News Limited. p. 40.
28. Dong, Irene (4 September 2023). "Accolade sells House of Arras to Handpicked Wines". Inside FMCG. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
29. ^ "Our Portfolio: Non Region Specific Brands". Accolade Wines. 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
30. Shanahan, Chris (2 February 2011). "Tim Adams buys Clare's Leasingham Winery". Chris Shanahan: Australian wine & beer judge, writer and connoisseur. (private blog). Retrieved 8 December 2016.
31. "Our Wines". Archived from the original on 18 January 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
32. "Constellation Wines – Our Wines".

External links

• Accolade Wines
• Constellation Brands

35°05′39″S 138°32′36″E / 35.094279°S 138.543356°E / -35.094279; 138.543356

• Australian companies established in 1853
• Food and drink companies established in 1853
• Wineries in McLaren Vale
• The Carlyle Group