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Two more Awatere Valley vineyards are up for mortgagee and receivership sale, almost 18 months after a still-to-be-sold 128-hectare vineyard was first listed for sale by the receivers of failed wine company Awatere Vineyard Estates.
Tetley Brook Vineyard, a 50-hectare sauvignon blanc holding near Seddon, is up for mortgagee tender closing March 1, while tenders for the nearby Sedgebrook Estate’s 47ha vineyard close a week later.
The two vineyards were planted in 2006 and came onstream in the years of significant oversupply and turmoil for the New Zealand wine industry.
Bayleys Marlborough viticulture sales specialist John Hoare said the two vineyards had the potential to make large revenues and were being sold at a turnaround point for the industry.
The value of vineyards had fallen substantially in the past four years and the amount of sauvignon blanc being produced was more in line with demand, he said.
Some Marlborough growers were reporting a 30 per cent drop in expected sauvignon blanc grape tonnage since pre-flowering due to unfavourable weather.
The sale showed there was more rationalisation and consolidation to come from vineyards at which profitability for the past couple of years has been marginal at best.
Tetley Brook has a supply agreement with Constellation Wines – the owner of brands including Drylands, Kim Crawford and Monkey Bay – for just over half the vineyard. Tetley’s rateable value was $3.8m while Sedgebrook was rated at $2.8m.
Three of the largest vineyards put up for sale by receivers of failed Awatere Valley wine companies, totalling more than 350ha of planted vines, have been on real estate books for more than a year.
Awatere Vineyard Estates, a large contract grower with 128ha of vines, failed in June 2010 owing Westpac more than $22 million. The 300ha property was put on the market in September 2010 and is yet to be sold. The following month, Cape Campbell Wines, also based in the Awatere Valley, failed and in October 2010 its 75ha vineyard was unsuccessfully put out for tender. It remains on the market.
Otuwhero Estates went into receivership in September 2010 and its 255ha holdings is also still on the receivers’ books.
– © Fairfax NZ News
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