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Vincor Buys New Zealand Winery for Kim Crawford Brand
Canadian giant plans to double production
Canada's Vincor International has purchased a New Zealand winery so that it can expand its Kim Crawford brand, which it has owned since 2003.
Vincor is taking over Marlborough Valley Cellars, near Blenheim, on the South Island, which is one of the facilities Kim Crawford had been leasing for winemaking. The NZ$17.8 million (nearly US$13.2 million) deal includes a winery built in 2000 that can store up to 1 million liters of wine, as well as 5 acres of land to accommodate expansion of the winery.
"This is no different from buying the house you've been living in for many years," said Vincor president and CEO Donald Triggs. "We've just bought out our landlord."
The facility originally had been operated as a joint venture between three wineries: Kim Crawford, Saint Clair and Cairnbrae. After the existing lease agreements expire in 2006, the winery will be used exclusively for the production of Kim Crawford wines.
The brand is best known for its Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs, but also makes reds, such as Merlot and Pinot Noir. The wines have regularly earned very good to outstanding ratings from Wine Spectator.
The Marlborough Valley facility has the capacity to support Kim Crawford's current production plus up to 40 percent growth. Triggs said that Vincor intends to double production to 175,000 cases over the next few years, fulfilling the company's original plans when it bought the brand.
Kim Crawford is one of a handful of Vincor brands targeted for global distribution, Triggs said. Others include Inniskillin ice wine from Ontario's Niagara Peninsula, Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Vineyards in British Columbia, the Toasted Head line produced by R.H. Phillips in California, Goundrey Wines of Australia and Kumala of South Africa.
