{"id":17527,"date":"2011-02-28T08:26:32","date_gmt":"2011-02-28T06:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=17527"},"modified":"2011-02-28T10:09:43","modified_gmt":"2011-02-28T08:09:43","slug":"graham-beck-franschhoek-cellar-door-operation-to-continue-until-mid-2012-despite-rupert-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/franschhoek\/graham-beck-franschhoek-cellar-door-operation-to-continue-until-mid-2012-despite-rupert-sale\/","title":{"rendered":"Graham Beck Franschhoek Cellar Door operation to continue until mid-2012, despite Rupert sale"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The sale of the Graham Beck\u00a0Wines Franschhoek farm to\u00a0Antonij Rupert Wines, the owners of the neighbouring L’Ormarins estate,\u00a0resulted from a consolidation of the Graham Beck Wines’ assets,\u00a0and should not create any visible changes at Graham Beck Franschhoek for the next 15 months or so in terms of cellar door tasting and sales.\u00a0 The Graham Beck brand and its wine range will continue to be marketed as before, says Graham Beck\u00a0Wines Global Sales and Marketing Manager Etienne Heyns.<\/p>\n

It was announced last week that Antonij Rupert Wines had bought the Franschhoek operation of Graham Beck Wines, the culmination of discussions that had taken place over\u00a0a number of years between Johan Rupert and the late\u00a0Graham\u00a0Beck.\u00a0 With the passing of\u00a0Mr Beck last year, the sale of the Franschhoek property reached its natural conclusion.\u00a0 The deal was signed last week, and is subject to certain conditions, as well as regulatory approvals.\u00a0 The sale includes 452 ha of land,\u00a0of which only 16 % is planted to vine, a cellar each for red and white wine production, the tasting room and other administrative buildings, and the La Garonne manor house.\u00a0 The bulk of the Graham Beck wines are produced in Robertson, including their award-winning Cap Classique sparkling wines.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The sale to Mr Rupert’s company\u00a0is considered to be of benefit to both parties.\u00a0 Antonij Rupert Wines’ intention with the property after the sale is unclear, and could be to expand the thoroughbred stud they already have on L’Omarins, and\/or continue the winemaking under the L’Omarins and\u00a0Rupert & Rothschild\u00a0wine brands.\u00a0 For Graham Beck Wines\u00a0the sale to Antonij Rupert Wines is one of comfort, in that the farm, which Mr Beck loved,\u00a0will go to someone they know and trust, that Mrs Becks’ beloved gardens will be well looked after, that\u00a0the good name and reputation of the Becks will be upheld on this property, and that the estate will continue to be operated with care and consideration for the beautiful buildings and cellars on the estate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Graham Beck Wines ultimately it may mean finding a new cellar door for the Graham Beck wines,\u00a0in addition to their Robertson tasting room.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0They have a number of options, including using Steenberg Vineyards\u00a0in Constantia (a sister Graham Beck property) as the tasting room and sales point,\u00a0 or even being as bold as DGB’s\u00a0Brampton<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, and setting up shop in a\u00a0town such as Franschhoek or Stellenbosch,\u00a0to continue connecting with their winelovers\u00a0close to Cape Town.<\/p>\n

\u00a0While Heyns would not commit himself to a figure of the percentage of sales that go through the Franschhoek cellar door specifically,\u00a0it appears to be below 10 %,\u00a0by far the larger percentage of Graham Beck wines being exported.\u00a0\u00a0Only a small percentage of the wines\u00a0is produced in Franschhoek, and\u00a0this means that\u00a0the sale of the property will\u00a0lead to\u00a0increased production in Robertson, or perhaps even at Steenberg Vineyards.\u00a0The Graham Beck vineyards in Firgrove are not part of the sale.<\/p>\n

Gary Baumgarten, CEO of Graham Beck Wines, said\u00a0in the media release that\u00a0“None of the other Beck family wine interests form part of this transaction, there will be no change in the ownership of the Graham Beck Wines group, and the management of the operations of the Graham Beck Wines group remains unchanged”.\u00a0\u00a0 Johan Rupert, owner of Antonij Rupert Wines, said: \u00a0“The late Graham Beck was a friend of over thirty years.\u00a0 We have been neighbours for decades and he offered us the opportunity to acquire the land adjacent to L’Omarins some time ago.\u00a0 As a farmer, it is generally accepted that if, during your lifetime, the neighbouring farm becomes available, you are very fortunate”.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It will be\u00a0a pity to see the closure of the Graham Beck Franschhoek cellar door next year, given that it is one of the most modern and professional tasting rooms in the Franschhoek valley, and that its sparkling wines in particular\u00a0are so highly regarded.\u00a0\u00a0 I have no doubt that Graham Beck Wines will find a creative solution to\u00a0creating a new cellar door, which will allow them to continue connecting with their winelovers.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sale of the Graham Beck\u00a0Wines Franschhoek farm to\u00a0Antonij Rupert Wines, the owners of the neighbouring L’Ormarins estate,\u00a0resulted from a consolidation of the Graham Beck Wines’ assets,\u00a0and should not create any visible changes at Graham Beck Franschhoek for the next 15 months or so in terms of cellar door tasting and sales.\u00a0 The Graham Beck […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[124,14,21,19],"tags":[5318,5218,218,10258,32378,9379,1534,10260,32369,10261,10262,226,10253,1533,2082,10254,10256,433,882,10259,32376,2689,10257,32373],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t