German interests headed by Riquet Hess, a former managing director of H. Sichel Sohne, have taken a controlling interest in Mount Langi Ghiran, one of Australia’s foremost shiraz producers. The Australian National Vintners Group, based in Germany and the UK, has purchased the share block held by former chief executive Ian Menzies and has also invested substantial capital to fund vineyard expansion and a new winery. Riquet Hess, who has been responsible for the international marketing of Blue Nun, brings his wealth of global wine experience and connections to Mount Langi Ghiran, whose 1994 Shiraz was featured on the cover of Wine Spectator’s June 30 issue and was awarded a 92-point rating inside. Trevor Mast, Langi’s winemaker since 1980 and a shareholder since 1987, retains his level of ownership, will continue to direct vineyard and winemaking operations and says he has plans to nearly treble its vineyard area to around 140 ha in Victoria and other Australian states. Hess, a regular visitor to Australia since the late ’70s, has long been an enthusiast of its reds. When he heard from Stephen Shelmerdine, President of the Winemakers Federation of Australia, that an opportunity existed to invest in Mount Langi Ghiran, he jumped at the chance. ‘I have long wanted to invest in the New World and chose Australia for its stablity and consistent record as a maker of high-quality wine. I’ve always been interested in owning a red wine producer of world class as well’, he says. Trevor Mast is looking to snap up existing old vine Australian shiraz vineyards as a source of concentated material to flesh out the crops from the younger Langi vineyards. These blended wines will be given a new Mount Langi Ghiran brand and will be sold in the US, but the flagship Langi Shiraz wine will remain 100% from the old vines at Mount Langi Ghiran estate itself. Mast and Hess are agreed that the original Langi estate should remain the core of the brand’s investment and quality and neither can see any need to alter the company’s emphasis on organic vineyard management systems or its approach to winemaking. ‘I’m delighted that Riquet sees a future in what we’ve been doing’, Mast says.
