Wolf Blass, 89, says he’s been through “three or four” economic cycles in the wine industry since setting up his eponymous brand in 1966, but this downturn is bringing “diabolical trouble”., which will take two years to soak up, has put extra pressure on brands in the “commercial” end of the sector that sell below $10 per bottle.
“I think the wine industry is in diabolical trouble,” he said. “I feel sad for where the industry is up to.Blass, who turns 90 in three weeks, is still in good health. “I’m still oiling the motor every day,” he said. Wolf Blass Wines was established in 1966 when Blass, who completed an apprenticeship in winemaking in Germany before arriving in the Barossa in 1961, began making his own wines from small parcels of Barossa Valley grapes. The business was sold in 1991 to Mildara, which, as Mildara Blass, was bought by beer giant Foster’s Group in 1996., bought for $1.6 billion in late 2023, reinforcing its view that it is the upper end where the growth will come from.
Osborn accepts that economic conditions are tough and the challenges at the commercial end of the sector are unlikely to improve any time soon. “It’s pretty tough out there.”