More than 100 million litres of wine will be produced at Treasury Wine Estates’ new production facility in South Australia’s Barossa Valley, said to be the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.
The $165 million build was two and a half years in the making and is TWE’s largest bottling operation in the world, packaging up to 216 million bottles per year, operating four bottling lines, and exporting to more than 70 countries.
The new site provides TWE with the ability to increase premium winemaking capacity by one-third, drive production efficiencies, and expands TWE’s storage capacity. It includes an additional production line, processing infrastructure, and additional barrel storage facilities.
TWE Chief Supply Officer Kerrin Petty said the site was purpose built for premium winemaking, with flexibility to scale up or down depending on demand.
“The new site is purpose-built for premium winemaking. Sustainability has been front of mind throughout the entire project with the new infrastructure allowing us to manage the impacts of climate change on vintages and ensuring we can protect our most valuable grapes and produce the highest quality wine even in challenging years.
“It also sets us up to pursue our commitment to net zero. As our first step toward our target of being powered 100 per cent by renewable energy by 2024, we are installing solar panels to offset 22 per cent of the site’s energy consumption from the grid.
“We have also installed a purpose-built 254 megalitre dam to store treated water waste in Winter and irrigate our vineyards in Summer,” Petty said.
It is also the first wine production facility to use Automated Guided Vehicles to manage barrel movements.
“Safety of our people is our number one priority. We are using new automated tank technology to check on the wine, which reduces the need for our team members to frequently enter tanks.”
The site employs around 400 permanent team members and up to 600 during peak vintage periods.
The new winemaking site also includes the 4500 square metre Icon Cellar Building, which represents global best practice for luxury winemaking and provides visitors with the VIP treatment to experience and tour the winemaking process.
