The world-renown Wyndham Estate label will live on but the once booming Dalwood winery will close to the public.
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At least nine people will be made redundant and the closure is expected to affect several more jobs.
“They’ve got some very good people and very good people tend to be snapped up,” Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Association general manager Gus Maher said.
“It’s a challenging time in the wine industry, but I don’t believe it’s closing because of wine sales, it’s closing because it’s not realising its potential as a venue.”
It’s a cruel irony considering the venue’s popularity at the vanguard of wine tourism before it was stripped from the hands that built that reputation.
“If you look at Wyndham in the ’70s and ’80s when Brian and Fay McGuigan drove it so hard, it was the forerunner to wine tourism,” Mr Maher said.
“So many of the other estates in Pokolbin capitalised on what they did.”
In 1990, Orlando (Jacob’s Creek) and its French parent company Pernod Ricard seized the McGuigan family’s controlling share of the publicly listed Wyndham company and vineyard.
“We were very strong on the eastern seaboard and they wanted our market to take advantage of the burgeoning restaurant industry,” Mr McGuigan said.
“We got into a bit of a fight trying to keep it.”
The McGuigan family had to start over in 1992 with their own label (McGuigan Wines) but there is no animosity on this recent turn of events.
“The wine industry is under a lot of pressure and it’s a great pity,” Mr McGuigan said.
“They kept the place in great shape and had continued to improve the infrastructure.”
Pernod Ricard owns some of the world’s biggest alcohol brands including Jameson and Ballantines.
“Regrettably, we have made the difficult decision to close our Wyndham Estate Cellar Door and consolidate our vineyard operations at Dalwood,” Pernod Ricard spokeswoman Sarah Descher said.
“Our primary focus at this time is the welfare of our people, ensuring that they are supported through this period of change.
“We will remain committed to Wyndham Estate and to the legacy created by George Wyndham in the Hunter Valley and at this site.
“Whilst the Wyndham Estate site at Dalwood will be closed to the public, it will remain an important part of the Wyndham Estate history and we will continue to be present in the market with Hunter-based wines in the future.
“The cellar door will be open for business until late October.”