There are serious doubts over the future of one of Western Australia's most iconic and oldest wineries.
Houghton Wines, WA's most awarded winery, is moving its entire wine production to its other base in Nannup, ending a winemaking era that began in the Swan Valley almost 200 years ago.
The move by Houghton, established in 1836 and one of Australia's oldest operating wineries, is considered strategic, with its Nannup production base halfway between Margaret River and Frankland River, the two wine regions from which Houghton sources most of its grapes.
The Swan Valley-based winery set up its main production hub in Nannup about 15 years ago, where it blends the majority of fruit for its four ranges of wine. From May 2019, all of its wine will be produced there.
The winery is owned by South Australian based Accolade Wines, which in turn was bought by American multinational corporation The Carlyle Group this year, who could not guarantee the future of the winery in the Swan Valley, where it has operated for 180 years.
In a statement to WAtoday, Accolade Wines could not say if the winery's iconic cellar door and musuem would remain open in the valley.
"Accolade Wines can confirm it is reviewing its operational footprint in Western Australia," a spokesperson said.
"This review does not impact any of the company’s local brands.
"The company regularly reviews its operational footprint globally to ensure we are ideally positioned to meet the needs of our customers, to adapt to changing market conditions and to take advantage of opportunities.
"This approach ensures we remain competitive and well positioned for long term growth, profitability and success.
"Any necessary information resulting from the review of its WA operations will be communicated to relevant stakeholders, including our customers and suppliers.
"In the meantime it continues to be business as usual across our operations."
Houghton Wines has a rich and colourful history in the Swan Valley that includes tales of pioneer Scots and bandits, as well as generations of winemaking craftsmanship.
The valley, just 30 minutes north of Perth, is Australia's oldest wine region and captured the attention of the Australian wine industry in 1937 when legendary Houghton winemaker Jack Mann first made the iconic White Burgundy.
The blend - known today as White Classic - is still as popular as ever and opened the door all those years ago for a new wave of wine drinkers in this country with its effortless style and fruity nature.
Mann was 31 when he made the White Burgundy, today sold as the White Classic, and became the winery's driving force in the Swan with 51 consecutive vintages at the helm.
Only 13 winemakers have taken the reins at the West Australian company in its 180-year history, with today's senior winemaker Ross Pamment building on the reputation Houghton has in the industry across Australia.
The Swan Valley cellar door has won numerous accolades since opening in 2004, including Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine’s best large cellar door three years running from 2016-18.
A museum at the site tells the tale of notorious bushranger Moondyne Joe, who was captured at the winery in 1869 trying to steal Houghton wine. The winery even named a wine after him in honour.
James Halliday, Australia's leading wine critic for decades, said in his latest 2019 Halliday Companion that the winery has a "kaleidoscopic range of high quality wines from Margaret River, Frankland River, Great Southern and Pemberton regions" and to borrow a saying of the late Jack Mann: "There are no bad wines here."
