Image Swinney

The Swinney family and Accolade Wines have announced that they have reached agreement for Accolade to sell its Brookland Valley Estate vineyard in Margaret River to winegrowing brand Swinney.

Under the sale-and-leaseback agreement, Swinney will take ownership of the 60ha Wilyabrup property, comprising the premium vineyard together with improvements including the award-winning Flutes restaurant, a cellar door and two residences.

Accolade Wines will lease back the vineyard and appoint Swinney to manage it, locking in grape supply for its premium wine brands including Brookland Valley Estate and Houghton.

The Brookland Valley and Houghton brands will continue to be owned by Accolade Wines and made by Senior Winemaker Courtney Treacher and her team. Accolade Wines will also retain use of the cellar door and Flutes restaurant, with no change to the operation of these facilities on site.

The purchase of Brookland Valley vineyard brings the Swinney portfolio to more than 265ha of premium vineyard sites across the Frankland River and Margaret River regions and builds on a more than 20-year working relationship between Accolade and the Swinney family.

Located on Caves Road, the 38-year-old vineyard consists of 15.4ha of vines – 70% of which are Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Swinney chair Matt Swinney said the acquisition was aligned with the vision and long-term growth strategy of the family-owned business.

“We are in the business of developing and managing world-class vineyards – and we see Brookland Valley, given its credentials and location in the heart of the premium Wilyabrup sub-region, as exactly that,” he said.

“We’ve long looked for the right site in Margaret River and this is truly a world-class site, so when the opportunity became available, we didn’t hesitate.”

“This transaction marks an exciting new phase and extension of the long relationship developed between Accolade Wines and Swinney over the course of more than two decades, and we look forward to bringing our bespoke approach to viticulture to the Brookland Valley site.”

Accolade Wines chief supply chain officer Derek Nicol said the Company looked forward to seeing the site flourish under the new ownership.

“Swinney is recognised as one of Australia’s leading winegrowers and we are delighted to be continuing our already long association with the Swinney family as they take ownership of the Brookland Valley Vineyard site,” he said.

“Swinney has been providing exceptional grapes for our award-winning WA brands for many years, and we see this agreement as an extension of this long-standing relationship that will see our Houghton and Brookland Valley brands continue to thrive.”

“We’re pleased that our viticulture team will be joining Swinney, where they’ll benefit from their expertise, while other team members will continue in their roles with Accolade Wines.”

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