Inside Australian Vintage’s Merbein packaging facility: Winetitles exclusive

Winetitles journalist Eleanor Danenberg and work placement student Beth Hayden recently visited their home town of Mildura to gather some stories from the winegrape and wine industries in the Sunraysia region.

In the first of six videos, they chat with Australian Vintage’s national packaging manager John Kontrec who takes us inside the company’s newly-opened, $11 million bottling facility in Merbein.

The facility means that for the first time, AVL is now able to bottle both sparkling and still wine at the one site for its three key brands, McGuigan, Tempus Two and Nepenthe.

In the coming weeks, other Winetitles exclusive videos will include a tour of Chinese-owned Weilong Wines in Red Cliffs, a chat with outgoing Murray Valley Winegrowers EO Mike Stone, a tour of Australian Vintage’s Buronga Hill winery, and interviews with two local growers.