The Woolworths’ Endeavour Drinks has bought award-winning South Australian winery Chapel Hill, the Australian Financial Review has reported.

Before undertaking a $10 billion demerger, the McLaren Vale winery has been added to the Endeavour Drinks’ premium wine portfolio under its new wine division Paragon Wine Estates, which will include Krondorf (Barossa Valley), Isabel Estate (Marlborough) and Riddoch (Coonawarra).

Chapel Hill, acquired from former owners the Schmidheiny family of Switzerland and best known for producing The Vicar and The Parson Shiraz, had previously sold exclusively through Endeavour Drinks as well as through cellar door sales and exports for several years.

“We have been selling a lot of Chapel Hill wine over the last five years – our customers love it – and it’s a lovely complement to a portfolio of really important brands that we’re privileged to have in our suite of brands,” Endeavour Drinks managing director Steve Donohue told The Australian Financial Review.

Mr Donohue said the Chapel Hill acquisition and establishment of Paragon Wine Estates was an important step in enhancing the wine business before the proposed merger with Woolworths’ hotel and gaming business, ALH, and the demerger of the combined liquor, hotel and gaming operations in 2020.

Chapel Hill’s chief winemaker and chief executive Michael Fragos said the existing team would stay with the company and relationships with grape growers would not change.

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