The two Victorian wineries which changed hands in the Mildara Blass takeover of Rothbury Ltd may have brighter futures than many people first imagined. Both Baileys and St Huberts should continue their steady, if not entirely spectacular progress as growing Victorian wine brands. Mildara Blass is a major purchaser of fruit from the King Valley, one of several Victorian phylloxera regions, and prior to its acquisition of Rothbury, it used to crush fruit from the King Valley and other central Victorian regions at Echuca, a non-phylloxera area. Some objected to this activity. Mildara Blass are now likely to re-establish Baileys, which they say was virtually gutted by its previous owners, as a major facility, especially for King Valley fruit. Good news for the Yarra Valley is that St Huberts is not about to be written off, despite the fact that Mildara Blass is the owner of Yarra Ridge, one of the most successful Yarra Valley brands ever developed. St Huberts has had a chequered career under several owners since its establish-ment by the Cester family in the 1970s, using the name of a prominent wine company and vineyard last century created by Hubert de Castella. The old St Huberts vineyards, incidentally, are not believed to have existed underneath that which currently bears their name. St Huberts’ red winemaking facilities will probably be moved to Yarra Ridge, where the group’s Yarra Valley winemaking facilities can be consolidated, leaving St Huberts as a maturation centre, vineyard and cellar sales operation. Mildara Blass has divided its ever-increasing brand portfolio between two competing internal sales teams, so it is logical that St Huberts be allocated to the side of the business currently minus a Yarra Valley brand. Expect to see St Huberts Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay maintain a price under $20 for some time yet.
