Western Range Wines, made up of a group of high-profile investors including Malcolm McCusker, Terry and Kevin Prindiville, and Marilyn Corderoy, has been selling cases and cases of its export brand Boorara at bargain prices – $60 a case in fact.
It’s all the result of a UK order from distributor Bottle Green that went sour. According to Ms Corderoy when the Aussie dollar began to rise, the deal began to fall.
“The wine was for an order from 12 months ago,” she says.
“All of a sudden the Australian dollar went through the roof and they wanted to wait because they thought it would drop down. It didn’t and they wanted us to reduce the selling price by 38 per cent because the dollar was 38 per cent higher.
“I’d rather sell it cheap over here.”
And so for the past few weeks cases of Boorara Shiraz and Boorara Chardonnay Viognier have been going out the door at great prices. But be quick.
Three local wineries have made James Halliday’s top 10 new wineries in the 2005 edition of the Australian Wine Companion.
Watershed Premium Wines, Eagle Vale and Tintagel, all from the Margaret River region, each achieved a five-star rating.
Only 10 of the 377 new wineries appraised were awarded five-star ratings.
Out of the three WA wineries, only Watershed has significant volumes.
“As a new winery we’re delighted, achieving an outstanding rating is exciting news for us,” Watershed managing director Geoff Barrett said.
