Krinklewood Biodynamic Vineyard to be sold
The boutique winery Krinklewood Biodynamic Vineyard in the Hunter Valley has been listed for sale by the Windrim family.
They've farmed the Broke Fordwich area for 20 years.
The 59 hectare property near Pokolbin includes a three bedroom colonial homestead and a 19 hectare vineyard. It is expected to fetch around $10 million.
The cellar door and winery is set among Provencal gardens, urns, fountains and is surrounded by animal life, olive trees and the Brokenback ranges.
The property also includes a tennis court, saltwater pool, a stone pool cabana, vegetable garden and small orchard.
There are three fulltime employees, as well as six cellar door staff.
Rod Windrim came to the Hunter Valley in 1977 and planted his first vineyard in Pokolbin four years later.
After years of research and a growing passion for high quality wines, he bought the current property in 1989 focussing on classic Hunter Valley varietals.
The vineyard was planted in 1998, and in 2002 Krinklewood started implementing biodynamic practices, soon becoming fully certified organic and biodynamic.
Over the past 10 years Rod, and more recently his son Pete, have been frequent educators within Australia in biodynamic viticulture and winemaking.
“Our family is unified and excited that the time has come to pass on our passion of biodynamic viticulture and love for our beautiful patch of earth at Krinklewood,” Rod said.
“One of the guiding biodynamic principles is to leave something greater than how you found it, as a legacy and gift to the next generation. With the growth of our brand we believe now is the time to hand over the custodianship to someone who will take it to the next level.”
The southern end of the Broke Fordwich valley has a slightly cooler climate than most Hunter Valley wineries, which allows the vineyard to explore less Hunter specific varietals.
The white vines are on a flat bed of free-draining loam organic soil which is ideal for producing classic Hunter Valley Semillon, Verdelho and Chardonnay. In more recent years they have added small plantings of Gewürztraminer and Viognier.
A gentle slope of clay-loam organic soil is well suited to classic Hunter Shiraz. Later, the family planted Mourvedre to make Francesca Rosé and introduced a small planting of the Spanish variety Tempranillo.
The new winery, completed prior to the 2017 vintage, includes fully automated brine refrigeration and comes complete with state of the art laboratory, steel tanks, French barrels and automated press. With an annual turnover of $1.4 million, the property has the capacity to produce over 10,000 cases per year.
The Krinklewood Wine Club has been going for 16 years, boasts more than 1800 members, and is responsible for 58% of the vineyard’s sales. The rest is made up of NSW & VIC distribution (15%); cellar door and online (20%) and direct wholesale (7%).
The sale of the property will be managed by Alan Jurd and Cain Beckett at Jurd’s Real Estate, Cessnock.