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Accolade Wines is an international wine business with its headquarters in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
and corporate offices in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
. It has been owned by the
Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management. Carlyle specializes in ...
, an American
private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...
company, from 2018 until 2025 when the business merged with
Pernod Ricard Winemakers Pernod Ricard Winemakers is the wholly owned wine subsidiary of French wine and spirits producer Pernod Ricard, which is one of the largest alcoholic beverage companies in the world. It arose from the Australian and New Zealand companies form ...
to form the company Vinarchy after the sale of its portfolio to Australian Wine Holdco, a consortium of international investment investors comprising
Bain Capital Bain Capital, LP is an American Investment company, private investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, with around $185 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, p ...
,
Intermediate Capital Group Intermediate Capital Group is a private equity investment firm focused on providing capital to help companies grow through private and public markets and provides a number of strategies and funds aimed at institutional investors. It is headquarte ...
, Capital Four, Sona Asset Management, and Samuel Terry Asset Management. Accolade, which predominantly uses the Hardy's label, was one of the worlds largest winemakers, having more than 1700 employees around the world, with operations in
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, the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, mainland Europe, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
. As of 2022 it was ranked the second largest Australian wine company by production and second largest in terms of total revenue.


History


Thomas Hardy and Sons

Accolade Wines traces its beginning to Thomas Hardy and Sons, a company founded in 1853 which grew to become Australia's largest winemaker. The company headquarters are in Old Reynella, South Australia. At 20 years of age,
Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...
arrived in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
after sailing from the English county of
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
in 1850. He worked at Reynella Farm for John Reynell, then drove cattle to the Victorian goldfields. Hardy used the money he had earned to purchase a property on the banks of the
River Torrens The River Torrens (Karrawirra Parri / Karrawirraparri) is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains. It was one of the main reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the Ad ...
, which he named 'Bankside'. Shiraz and Grenache vines were planted on the Bankside property. Wine was sold locally and in England, and the profits enabled Hardy to buy the Tintara Vineyard Company about 1876. Hardy steadily expanded the company over the years, purchasing a bottling plant at
Mile End Mile End is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road ...
, cellars on Currie Street in Adelaide, and a disused flour mill in McLaren Vale. In 1938, then chairman Tom Mayfield Hardy was killed in an aeroplane crash along with other leading South Australian winemakers. His cousin, Kenneth Hardy, became chairman. In 1968, the company established extensive vineyards in the Padthaway area. In 1976, Thomas Hardy and Sons made its first corporate acquisition by purchasing the London-based Emu Wine Company, which included Houghton (Western Australia's largest winery) and Morphett Vale. In 1982, the company purchased Chateau Reynella, where Thomas Hardy had first worked, and converted it to its headquarters. In 1989, the company sold a portion of the Houghton Estate known as "Oakover Grounds" to a Swan Valley family. Further expansion came in 1992, when Thomas Hardy & Sons merged with Berri Renmano Limited to form what then became Australia's second largest wine group, BRL Hardy Limited. In 2003, the brands of BRL Hardy and those of Constellation Brands were merged to create the world's largest international wine business. BRL Hardy Limited was renamed The Hardy Wine Company. In 2006, Constellation Brands acquired Vincor International, adding the West Australian brands of Amberley and Goundrey to the Hardy portfolio. On 31 March 2008, The Hardy Wine Company changed its name to Constellation Wines Australia.


Accolade Wines: 2011- 2025

In February 2011, Constellation Brands sold 80 per cent of Constellation Wines Australia, along with sister company Constellation Europe, to CHAMP Private Equity. Constellation Brands retained a 20% stake in the newly named Accolade Wines. In October 2015, Accolade sold its 50% share to British drinks distributor Matthew Clark. In November 2016, the company acquired the Australian premium wine portfolio (Fine Wine Partners) of beverage giant
Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...
. In March 2017, CHAMP Private Equity scrapped its plans to float Accolade on the
Australian Securities Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd (ASX) is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary Exchange (organized market), securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or c ...
. The decision was made after overtures from potential Chinese buyers, and a drop in the value of the British pound due to
Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
. Until 2018, the company was 80 per cent owned by the Australian
private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...
firm CHAMP Private Equity and 20 per cent owned by the United-States-based alcohol giant Constellation Brands. 100% of the company was sold to the
Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management. Carlyle specializes in ...
in 2018. In October 2019, Accolade divested itself of the historic vineyards and buildings at the Houghton Estate in the Swan Valley to move production of Houghton Wines to its Nannup facility. The site was purchased by the Yukich family that had previously purchased the Oakover Grounds portion of the estate. The old Houghton site is now known as Nikola Estate. In 2025, Accolade Wines merged with Pernod Ricard Winemakers to form the company Vinarchy following the sale of both portfolios to Australian Wine Holdco Limited (AWL), a consortium of international institutional investors which comprises funds backed by Bain Capital, Intermediate Capital Group, Capital Four, Sona Asset Management, and Samuel Terry Asset Management.


Operations

Accolade Wines sells its products in over 80 countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, the United States, Japan, China, and across Continental Europe. It has branch offices in the United Kingdom (Weybridge and Bristol), Australia (Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne), and South Africa (Stellenbosch), as well as in Moscow, Warsaw, Shanghai, Singapore, Beijing and California. The business is the largest wine company by volume and value in the United Kingdom and Ireland, a highly-competitive market with thin
margins Margin may refer to: Physical or graphical edges *Margin (typography), the white space that surrounds the content of a page *Continental margin, the zone of the ocean floor that separates the thin oceanic crust from thick continental crust *Leaf ...
. Its popular brands there include: * Hardys, the number one Australian wine brand in the UK and a significant wine brand in mainland Europe, * Kumala, the UK's number one South African wine brand, * Echo Falls, the third largest wine brand in the UK, * Stowells, the number one wine brand in the UK on-premises trade, * Banrock Station, the UK's number one environmentally friendly wine brand, * Wine fusions such as Stone's Ginger Wine, Ginger Joe alcoholic ginger beer and Babycham perry, * Californian brands such as Geyser Peak, Atlas Peak and XYZin, drawing on the Sonoma and
Atlas Peak The Atlas Peak AVA is an American Viticultural Area located within Napa Valley AVA just northeast of the city of Napa, California, Napa. The appellation sits on a higher elevation than most of Napa's wine region which limits the effects of the co ...
regions. The
chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
from October 2015 to August 2016 was Paul Schaafsma, who previously worked for Australian Vintage. From August 2016 to April 2017, the CEO was former APAC GM of Sales, Michael East. The current Chief Executive Officer is Robert Foye, who was named CEO 1 May 2020.


Wine labels / Brands


See also

*
Australian wine The Australian wine industry is one of the world's largest exporters of wine, with approximately 800 million out of the 1.2 to 1.3 billion litres produced annually exported to overseas markets. The wine industry is a significant contributor ...
* Cult wine * South Australian wine * List of wineries in McLaren Vale * Constellation Brands * James Hardy – former chairman.


References


External links


Accolade WinesConstellation Brands
{{Langton's Classification of Australian Wine VI - Producers Australian companies established in 1853 Food and drink companies established in 1853 Wineries in McLaren Vale The Carlyle Group