De Bortoli Wines has acquired the Rutherglen Estates vineyards, winery and tourism facility in Victoria’s North East town of Rutherglen.

De Bortoli Wines is a family owned wine business established in the Riverina in NSW in 1928 and is currently managed by the third generation. The winery’s production headquarters and packing facilities are located in the Riverina.

As part of the business’ growth strategy and to leverage the premiumisation trend of Australian wine, most of De Bortoli Wines’ vineyard acquisition and expansion has been in the key winemaking regions of Victoria.

The Rutherglen vineyard purchase complements the family’s existing premium Victorian vineyard holdings in the Yarra Valley, King Valley and Heathcote wine regions.

Rutherglen Estates also provides De Bortoli Wines with a third winemaking facility in addition to the business’ Riverina and Yarra Valley sites. The proximity to its Riverina operations is also an advantage.

Based on growing customer interest and strong sales forecasts, the De Bortoli family is confident that premium quality Victorian red wine with density, freshness and interest will increasingly be in high demand both domestically and internationally.

Heathcote and the North Eastern regions of Victoria are ideally suited to this type of wine, so the family has continued expanding the business into these areas with both the purchase of established vines as well as the planting of new vineyards.

The Rutherglen purchase brings the De Bortoli family’s Victorian vineyard holdings to 820 hectares, 700Ha bearing fruit and 120Ha in development. The family will continue to look for other opportunities.

The De Bortoli Wines’ focus in Heathcote and Rutherglen is to produce premium quality red wine predominantly from Shiraz and Grenache, but also with the varieties Tempranillo, Touriga and Durif that are ideal for these warmer climates. The acquisition of Rutherglen Estates will enable De Bortoli Wines to support similar wine styles internationally.

It is estimated that the De Bortoli family’s Victorian vineyards will produce in excess of seven million bottles of premium Victorian wine by 2025.

Photo: De Bortoli Wines Yarra Valley entrance