The Randall Wine Group sets sights on the global organic wine market

The Randall Wine Group, led by Executive Chairman and Proprietor Warren Randall, has acquired Gemtree Wines in McLaren Vale, placing The Randall Wine Group in a position to become a prominent player in the global organic wine market. 

The global organic wine market is in strong growth. In the past ten years alone it has increased by 250%. The acquisition of the Gemtree organic wine brand is the final piece of the jigsaw to propel the Randall Wine Group onto the organic world wine stage.

Mike and Melissa Brown established Gemtree Wines in McLaren Vale 25 years ago in 1998. Warren, Mike and Melissa enjoy a long-term friendship forged through the McLaren Vale wine industry, dating back to 1994 when Warren first employed Mike as a Cellar Hand at Andrew Garrett wines.

Established in 1978, The Randall Wine Group is Australia’s largest private luxury vineyard holder, with the jewel in the crown, Seppeltsfield Estate in the Barossa and Penny’s Hill Estate in McLaren Vale, with total vineyard holdings spanning over 9000 acres in eight premium regions across South Australia.

The Gemtree is a respected organic brand exporting to Canada, United States of America, Hong Kong, Denmark, Singapore, New Zealand and Sweden – which recently placed an order for 300,000 bottles of Gemtree organic Shiraz.

The Randall Wine Group acquired the celebrated Hiltop organic vineyard in McLaren Vale earlier this year. The 200-acre Hilltop vineyard planted 25 years ago is the largest single, 100% organic vineyard in a premium region in Australia and will be managed by the Australian master of organic viticulture, Melissa Brown.

Co-founder Mike Brown will oversee Gemtree’s organic wine portfolio at the Boar’s Rock winery in McLaren Vale – the largest, premium organically certified winery in Australia, acquired in 2019. The global expansion of the Gemtree brand will also be supported by several private McLaren Vale organically certified growers.

Warren Randall, Executive Chairman and Proprietor of the Randall Wine Group, was delighted with this latest acquisition.

“Gemtree is such an exciting brand to add to our stable of thoroughbred brands, Seppeltsfield and Penny’s Hill,” Randall said.

“Organic wine production presents a big opportunity. Organic wine sales have grown by 2.5-fold internationally and 15-fold domestically in the last ten years, while non-organic wine sales have declined.

“Australia possesses natural climatic attributes conducive to crafting organic wine in both the vineyard and the winery. Our hot and dry Mediterranean climate in McLaren Vale is entirely suited to world-class organic and bio-dynamic wines. Yet, we are the 11th in the world regarding organic vineyard area, with only 1% of the world’s organic vineyards.

“There is a significant opportunity for Australian wine to penetrate the biggest organic wine markets in the world, like Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Sweden. Canada, Japan and New Zealand also present future opportunities”.

Gemtree wines was a significant exporter to China before the punitive tariffs were applied in March 2021. The potential re-opening of China presents another excellent export opportunity for Gemtree as it reclaims its previous position.

Randall said as an industry, we need to do more to attract young consumers, like the Millennials (27 to 42) and entice them to become regular wine consumers. Millennials buy much less wine than Boomers as a demographic cohort. Randall says they are intelligent, aware, educated and savvy and more likely to seek organic brands with sustainable attributes.

“They have a greater appreciation of choices and the provenance of what they eat and drink. An organic or biodynamically crafted wine brand with genuine provenance and integrity, like Gemtree, is more likely to appeal than a generic, non-organic wine brand in supermarkets with no provenance. They are smart and savvy consumers, and sustainability is also paramount in their purchasing decisions.”

“With the Randall Wine Group achieving 100% sustainable certification in early 2023, Gemtree Wines is now both a valuable and natural addition to our group,” Randall concluded.

Pictured - Left to Right: Warren Randall, Melissa Brown, Mike Brown. Photographer – Asher Milgate, Considered Image.