YERING BUYS MOUNT LANGI GHIRAN

Published: 23 July, 2008

By Max Allen

After months of speculation, top Australian Shiraz vineyard Mount Langi Ghiran has been sold for an undisclosed sum to the privately-owned Yarra Valley winery, Yering Station. The two brands are a good match: Langi Shiraz is regarded as Australia's benchmark cooler-climate Shiraz, while the Best Pinot Noir Trophy at this year's IWSC was awarded to the Yering Station Reserve. Yering Station's owner, the Rathbone Family Group, has purchased only Langi's vineyards and winery in the Grampians region of western Victoria, plus its brands, Mount Langi Ghiran, Cliff Edge and Billi Bill Creek, which together account for 30,000 cases of wine a year. The sale did not include the 140,000-case Four Sisters brand, which Mt Langi Ghiran Pty Ltd half-owns with Alister Purbrick of central Victorian winery, Tahbilk. Winemaker Trevor Mast will retain his quarter share of Mt Langi Ghiran Pty Ltd; the rest is still owned by Riquet Hess, who is a shareholder in Liberty Wines, the importer of both Langi and Four Sisters. Mast will also continue both as winemaker at Langi and as consultant winemaker for the Four Sisters brand. Langi and Yering have different agents, nationally and internationally, although Yering's general manager Gordon Gebbie would like to see the same economies of scale with distribution that we achieved in administration and marketing through this acquisition'.

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