It was news that worried the wine world. It had been clear for some time that Australian wine conglomerate Accolade was divesting properties in a fire sale, but when it was announced that this included House of Arras, the jewel in Accolade’s crown, everyone wondered what would become of Australia’s best sparkling wine house and its longtime and pioneering cellarmaster Ed Carr – the person who proved that Tasmania could make world class sparkling wine.
House of Arras head winemaker Ed Carr: Arras is Australia's most decorated sparkling wine with over 370 gold trophies won in 30 years
Corporate churn
Having been put up for sale in May 2023, meant almost half a year of limbo, with the knock-on effects felt in Arras's domestic and international markets. Accolade, owners of brands like Hardy’s, Echo Falls and Banrock Station, had been bought by the American private equity firm Carlyle Group in 2018 for one billion Australian dollars.
In February 2024, it was taken over by another private-equity-led consortium that is now about to buy Pernod Ricard’s wine brands – and the corporate churn continues merrily.
To make itself more attractive to potential buyers in the course of 2023, Accolade sold various assets, like premium Yarra Valley and McLaren Vale vineyards, boutique wineries like Stonier in the Mornington Peninsula and even Accolade’s giant UK bottling facility in Bristol, all to service and reduce its debts – and Arras was also part of that.
In October 2023, Arras was then bought by Handpicked Wines, a premium brand portfolio owned by Sino-Australian businessman William Dong.
When Carr and his wife learned of the planned sale of Arras by Accolade, he confesses they were only worried for about 30 seconds before thinking “Well, hang on, this could actually be very good.”
“I don't want to be too negative,” says the ever softly-spoken Carr. “I look towards the future, but the brand presence sort of faded just because the investment wasn't there. People weren’t getting stock… but now there is a lot to. The support just changed overnight, and we can feel that the trade attitude has changed.”
A save haven
Carr is particularly relieved that Arras was bought lock, stock and barrel: “We own all of the wine assets, we own barrels and reserve wines and all tirage stock, the vineyards and the winery [in Pipers River],” Carr reports, adding that “all of the growers basically have come on board with re-signed supply contracts. And now we're in the process of building. I mean, we're actively chasing fruit.”
Tasmania has just 2,084 hectares of vines and just over 40% of this fruit goes into sparkling wine production – not only for Arras but also for producers like Jansz, Clover Hill, and Pipers Brook. “There's so much planting happening in Tasmania now and we we're trying to be part of that,” Carr says about his efforts to ensure more fruit supplies.
Even with growth and expansion in mind, the current annual production volume of 250,000 bottles of traditional method will be slow and hard to scale
Market watch
For now, however, Carr is on tour to show that Arras is back. This means turning up, telling the world that Arras is there: “That's basically employing sales teams. The focus is moving towards premium retail and on-premise and export markets,” Carr says about dedicated staff in both the UK and the US. Then there is “re-starting with people in Japan and Hong Kong and that’s going to take a while.”
This preparatory work is necessary, as Handpicked Wines, the new owner, is focused on the high end. “I've got no concerns about production-wise and maintaining standards. William (Dong) has already said ‘no compromise.’” Carr notes about his new boss. “He wants more volume, but he realises that's a long-term game. Really, the last year has been a lot of taking the wine to market again.”
However, even with growth and expansion in mind, the current annual production volume of 250,000 bottles of traditional method will be slow and hard to scale. Tasmanian fruit is finite and fine fizz takes time.
“I think our volume will be restricted by availability of supply rather than anything else at the moment,” Carr says realistically. This, however, should suit the premium positioning of Handpicked Wines which operates “urban cellar doors” in both Melbourne and Sydney. “William’s idea is that we move forward at the top end of the range,” says Carr.
Future expansion
While William Dong is “keen to expand,” says Carr, the process will be slow. “It’s a minimum of four years and maybe even ten,” he says about the long lees ageing of the Arras wines. “But there is the support and the drive to actually do it.”
Carr says that there are no plans to extend fruit sourcing beyond Tasmania, but emphasises again that any growth will be slow, simply because sparkling wine requires more investment and ties up capital for longer.
“There are two stages of ownership, the primary fermentation part and the secondary fermentation part. I believe they will take multiple years to sort out.” For now, a lot of spaces re-contracted and the arrangements work well.
“It's going to take us a long time to actually build a winery, to build a secondary fermentation site. Whether we continue to contract or not, we've got to do all of that financial analysis.”
Carr says that there will be a “commemorative wine” to celebrate 30 vintages at Arras
Exciting new releases
When I ask Carr if he has special plans, new project or ideas, he remains his modest self. He reveals that he is thinking more about “larger formats” and that there is a magnum range coming out which is still two years away, but he is shy about “maybe another label or two, maybe a blanc de noirs, but we're conscious that we don't want just label after label after label. Sometimes revelations happen…,” he says about his modus operandi and adds: “We've got the flexibility to hold back lines. Not endlessly, but if we think it's good, then we'll put some aside and we can go back to that later, which I think is brilliant.”
However, this year will also be the 30th anniversary of Arras’ first release in 1995 and Carr says that there will be a “commemorative wine” that he is looking forward to.
“If anything, what we've learned about Tasmanian wines is how well they age.” He adds about his library, stocks that “we want to release them right and be planning much further in the future. We've got a 30th anniversary. What are we going to do for the 35th and the 40th? It is that sort of thinking I think which will come much more into play.”
It is wonderful to know that this precious stock has been saved and safeguarded, that Carr can continue his mission and that this outstanding brand has been rescued and given a new lease of life. I have a feeling we will be seeing far more of Carr in the future. That is brilliant news.
