Article: McWilliam’s Wine Group in the hands of administrators

[Matt@5453]

Australia’s sixth-largest wine company – which has been in its founding family’s hands for 141 years and six generations – has revealed it has appointed voluntary administrators.

Late yesterday afternoon it was announced that McWilliam’s Wines was facing an uncertain future after appointing KPMG partners Gayle Dickerson, Tim Mableson and Ryan Eagle to the job.

The much-loved unlisted and publicly-owned company’s range includes the McWilliam’s and Mount Pleasant wine brands, and it is also the sole Australian distributor for renowned global brands such as Champagne Taittinger, Mateus, Henkell and Mionetto.

[url]https://www.wbmonline.com.au/mcwilliams-wine ... 6J99jvK4d0[/url]

[JDSJDS]

Was just about to post this as well. It's very unfortunate, and I hope they can find the equity they seem to need without being torn apart or disintegrated outright.

[Ozzie W]

This is disappointing news. In an environment where Aussie cellar door sales are booming, I'm curious what went wrong.

[tarija]

Unsure how much Mount Pleasant makes up of the overall group, however surely they lost many long-time customers because of their aggressive pricing.

A five-fold price increase on the O'shea shiraz from 2009 to 2014 vintage just looks ugly, irrespective of the quality in bottle. $50 to $250.

The cellar door experience is poor as well, with many wines not available for tasting unless you have a special handshake. Compared to the generosity of Tyrrell's, it's chalk and cheese.

[phillisc]

Unsure how much Mount Pleasant makes up of the overall group, however surely they lost many long-time customers because of their aggressive pricing.

A five-fold price increase on the O'shea shiraz from 2009 to 2014 vintage just looks ugly, irrespective of the quality in bottle. $50 to $250.

The cellar door experience is poor as well, with many wines not available for tasting unless you have a special handshake. Compared to the generosity of Tyrrell's, it's chalk and cheese.

+1
Unless you are in the top 2-3 wine companies and are making decent returns then the risk in this current economic climate is very high.
Only the very biggest who can offset losses (for a while at least) and those who stay small (with a good business model and loyal customer base) will survive.
As for outrageous price hikes...I am really glad that those who choose to shit in their own nest (5 time increase over just 5 years, for a wine I paid $40 for) have to actually sit in it. Suspect Castella will make another acquisition.
Cheers Craig

[ticklenow1]

That’s a real shame. Mount Pleasant released some amazing wines in 14, 17 & 18. Yes the prices are getting up there and by the looks people obviously aren’t buying the wine. The increase in the O’Shea pricing is just plain silly. Get some great reviews and jack the price up is no way to keep loyal buyers buying. Trophy hunters may buy that vintage but they will more than likely skip the next if the reviews aren’t the same. The loyal buyer buys almost every vintage.

I feel very sorry for the worker on the floor who may lose their jobs in the sell off. It would seem once again that poor management has contributed to the downfall of one of the largest wine companies in the land (possibly through greed with the price rises).

[dave vino]

+1 on everything.

I've not purchased any McWilliams since their ridiculous price rises. To be charging $200+ for O'Shea when it is readily available on the secondary market with 10 years on it for $70 says a lot about perceived value.

Plus as someone mentioned the CD experience was really disappointing the last two times I went. With the focus of pushing their latest '2 special rows of Rosehill' at $125 a bottle from a $30 bottle of wine vineyard. One of the few recent CD I actually walked out of without even buying a single bottle, even OP&OH was like double at the CD than what it is at retailers.

I hope whoever the bright sparks in marketing were, are feeling good about bringing such an iconic winery to it's knees.

[Matt@5453]

I’ve never bought or tried one of their wines so I had a quick look at the website. Wowsers they have some brands in the portfolio. Some of those brands are competing with Coles and Woolies own products, unless you are selling on promo, its hard to move stock when the competition is so rife.
The likely write off of the Hunter valley and Hill Tops vintage 2020 would not help matters either.

[qwertt]

McWilliams is a very big company and its Hunter operations only a small part. I suspect the problem was more of a broader business nature, competing against a flood of medium to lower priced wines across its portfolio than Mount Pleasant, which may well be more profitable than most given it has a fairly dedicated following.

[Polymer]

Its sad but not sad..They've been around a long time but they're mainly selling cheap bottle shop wine and they've really lost there way.

Unfortunately, I don't see anyone that picks up Mount Pleasant as doing anything but hike prices up even more to get back their investment....

[marsalla]

Maccas have struggled since the big crash early 2000's. Steady sales of assets over that time, failure of their joint venture with Gallo, shotgun approach to marketing/branding, continued cash flow issues causing destruction to brands a la Barwang, apparent production led business. It looks like poor work at the board level and senior management.

Some good potential assets there. Anyone up for a Barwang consortium???

[Mahmoud Ali]

My first visit to Mount Pleasant was in early 2001 and it was my introduction to Hunter Valley Shiraz. The O'Shea, OP & OH, and the Rosehill were from the 1997 vintage and if I recall correctly they were priced at about A$27-28. I wasn't terribly impressed as the wines seemed rathere austere and I couldn't help thinking that it was the vintage and rather wished the 1998s were on tasting.

A couple of months later, at a bottle shop in the Barossa, I came across the 1993 O'Shea for $35 and didn't hesitate to buy a pair. Hard to believe they want $250 for it now.

[Mike Hawkins]

And I’ll have my whinge about Taittinger Comtes. In most markets its way cheaper than Dom P, Dom R, Krug GC etc. Not Australia... I wonder why?

[felixp21]

there are other Aussie importers of Comtes...... and you can buy it far cheaper than when it comes off the back of the McWilliams import.

[tarija]

And I’ll have my whinge about Taittinger Comtes. In most markets its way cheaper than Dom P, Dom R, Krug GC etc. Not Australia... I wonder why?

Yes this!

Always a bit jealous when the Americans post about what a great value Comtes is...everywhere else in the world maybe, but not Aust. Should be cheaper than Dom and Krug but is 25-40% more expensive than those here.

[dave vino]

Probably the same person who priced these...

https://mountpleasantwines.com.au/collection ... hiraz-2017

[Mike Hawkins]

And I’ll have my whinge about Taittinger Comtes. In most markets its way cheaper than Dom P, Dom R, Krug GC etc. Not Australia... I wonder why?

Yes this!

Always a bit jealous when the Americans post about what a great value Comtes is...everywhere else in the world maybe, but not Aust. Should be cheaper than Dom and Krug but is 25-40% more expensive than those here.

And many Americans buy it in the Uk for GBP 400 per 6 pack in bond.