Kevin Sobels sells Hunter Valley winery to Romeciti, but will stay on
Kevin Sobels, the legendary Australian winemaker, and wife, Margaret have their Hunter Valley winery, as they look towards delaying their retirement.
The developer Romeciti has acquired the family-run winery in Pokolbin for $7.3 million, with plans to upgrade and convert the property into a luxury resort.
The winery, which has a vineyard and a wine making facility, will continue to operate as normal, led by Kevin, Margaret and son Jason Sobels.
This year marks the 170th unbroken run of Australian vintages by Sobels, with their son, Jason continuing the traditional family craft.
Sobels is a fifth generation descendant of German immigrant winemaker, Carl August Sobels.
The family name has been connected to Australian winemaking since the 1840s, beginning in South Australia’s Barossa and Clare Valley.
Kevin Sobels arrived in the Hunter in 1972 from the Barossa.
The 22ha Halls Road, Pokolbin offering, Kevin Sobels Wines, was started in the early 1990s by Kevin and Margaret on acreage offered to them by the Ross Jones family.
They formed a company with the help of a few friends with their sales door opening in 1994.
By 1996 the winemaking facility was complete so that wines could be made and bottled on-site.
The long established brand has around 5ha of planted vines.
Its March marketing suggested the property would suit the establishment of a five-star country lodge with restaurant and function space, with Fairfax Media suggesting it will soon be a key venue for the Romeciti's "Green Life" community hub, bringing together landscaped gardens, eateries and more.
The accommodation set to open to Romeciti customers in late 2019.
Sobels was installed as the 2014 Hunter Valley Living Legend of Wine, joining other Hunter notables as Brian and Fay McGuigan, Bruce Tyrrell and
Don McWilliam.
The Sobels’ wine journey began with Carl August, who in 1847 quit his home in the Saxony-Anhalt town of Quedlinburg and migrated with his family to Australia. He had been trained in winemaking in Germany and in France’s Champagne region.
He made his first Australian wines for William Jacob, the government surveyor who mapped the Barossa.