Top 20 winery Salena Estate Wines goes into administration: products sold at Liquorland, Dan Murphys
- Salena Estate Wines Pty Ltd in administration
- Family business, founded in 1998
- Seller Colliers blamed Chinese sanctions
An award-winning family business that offers products in bottle shops alongside Coles and Woolworths has gone into administration after 25 years due to Chinese sanctions.
Salena Estate Wines Pty Ltd went into administration on February 22 and KPMG’s lead partner in South Australia, Tim Mableson, was appointed administrator.
Colliers, which has been trying to sell the company for almost a year, blamed Chinese sanctions on Australia for the winery’s financial problems.
The company was among Australia’s top 20 wine producers and exported to 10 countries, growing grapes on 250 hectares of land in Bookpurnong in the state’s Riverland region.
A family business whose organic products are stocked at Coles and Woolworths has gone bankrupt after 25 years
CEO Bob Franhitto (pictured) and his wife Sylvia founded the company in 1998 in the South Australian town of Loxton and named it after their daughter Salena Muirden, who until recently was the winery’s marketing manager.
CEO Bob Franhitto and his wife Sylvia founded the company in 1998 near the South Australian town of Loxton and named it after their daughter Salena Muirden, who until recently was the winery’s marketing manager.
The organic wines were stocked at Liquorland, owned by Coles, and Dan Murphy’s and BWS, now owned by Endeavor Group, which split from Woolworths in 2021.
Labels included Twisted Sticks by Salena, The Timekeeper and BFR, and the products were exported to Asia, Europe and the United States as part of an average annual production of 15,000 tonnes.
The wine company has won a prestigious gold medal at the 2022 Riverland Wine Show, with this award among 1,500 trophies and medals.
Colliers national director of transaction services and agribusiness Tim Altschwager said the 2020 Chinese sanctions had crippled the winery.
“Those assets mainly supplied wine to the Chinese market,” he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday.
“When that business was stopped, they lost the business or the market for the products they produce, that market, which is quite difficult, and then it’s quite difficult to then pick that up elsewhere in this market.”
The family-run business also had to put up with Covid halting winery visits in 2020 and 2021, followed by flooding in 2022, before a cost-of-living crisis caused Australian consumers to cut back on spending.
The winery, which produces Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Petit Verdot and Chardonnay, came to market last year through Colliers, which launched the 17 million liter bulk wine storage facility.
The labels included Twisted Sticks by Salena, The Timekeeper and BFR
The property also included the award-winning Cucina 837 restaurant and events center.
Salena Estate Wines can continue trading while administrators work out a deal with creditors.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Salena Estate Wines and KPMG for comment, with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission announcing the administration on Friday.
It is understood a manager was at the winery on Monday.