{"id":803247,"date":"2026-07-16T04:53:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T04:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/803247\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T04:53:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T04:53:15","slug":"top-winemakers-leave-alcohol-giant-endeavour-in-double-blow-to-australian-wine-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/803247\/","title":{"rendered":"Top winemakers leave alcohol giant Endeavour in double blow to Australian wine industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian alcohol<\/a> retailer Endeavour Group has confirmed two of its top winemakers have left the business, as the retailer embarks on an aggressive retreat from the underperforming winery and vineyard industry.<\/a><\/p>\n

Endeavour will close more than half of its wineries in a \u201cstrategic transformation\u201d of its wine business<\/a>, slashing its winery assets from seven to just three.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Winemaker David Bicknell has departed Oakridge Winery.\u00a0Eddie Jim<\/p>\n

Chief winemakers David Bicknell and Michael Fragos, from Oakridge Wines and Chapel Hill respectively, are among the first major casualties of the group\u2019s cost-cutting strategy, led by new chief executive and managing director Jayne Hrdlicka.<\/a><\/p>\n

Bicknell had led Oakridge Wines in Coldstream, in Victoria\u2019s Yarra Valley, for nearly 25 years before he suddenly left the business.<\/p>\n

The award-winning winemaker took to Instagram with a colourful message to announce his departure \u2013 describing his sacking as getting \u201cboned\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an amazing ride, taking what was broken winery to the top of the industry with an unwavering commitment to quality and plenty of hard graft,\u201d Bicknell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome really good times with some really good people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey say you never know you\u2019re going to get boned until you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Michael Fragos, chief winemaker at Chapel Hill winery, has also left the business.\u00a0Jon Reid<\/p>\n

Paragon, Endeavour\u2019s wine portfolio, took over Oakridge Wine\u2019s brand, vineyard and cellar door in 2021.<\/p>\n

The Yarra Valley winery is now on the market and it remains operational as it finds a buyer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThankfully, I leave a highly trained, capable and talented team for the next piece of history,\u201d Bicknell added.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour support for them would mean a lot to me. Love my team. Righto. Off I f—.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bicknell has produced his own wine from a nearby vineyard, under the name Bicknell FC.<\/p>\n

He will be succeeded by senior winemaker Tim Dexter.<\/p>\n

\u201cTim has worked with David since 2023 and will continue the close partnership with award-winning viticulturist Steve Faulkner,\u201d\u00a0an Endeavour Group spokesperson told nine.com.au.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDavid helped build Oakridge into the brand it is today while mentoring the next generation of winemakers who will carry the winery forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Oakridge team and operations are continuing business as usual.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chapel Hill winemaker Michael Fragos left Endeavour Group several days earlier.<\/p>\n

Also an award-winning winemaker, Fragos led the McLaren Vale winery for 22 years before his exit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Chapel Hill winery is up for sale, however Endeavour will retain the brand.\u00a0Chapel Hill<\/p>\n

Chapel Hill Estate has been closed as Endeavour attempts to find a buyer for the 13.69-hectare vineyard.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMichael Fragos has made a valuable contribution to Chapel Hill. Endeavour Group thanks Michael for his service and dedication,\u201d the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n

Endeavour flagged in May that it would be undergoing a \u201cstrategic transformation\u201d of its Pinnacle Drinks arm, focusing on retail and shifting away from its \u201cnon-core winery and agricultural assets\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hrdlicka said the move \u201creflect[s] a clear choice to refocus Pinnacle on its primary role \u2013 serving our retail businesses and the customers that drive growth\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy concentrating on the brands and assets that customers value most, we are building a more focused private label portfolio,\u201d Hrdlicka added.<\/p>\n

Endeavour confirmed it will retain\u00a0the Chapel Hill,\u00a0Riddoch Coonawarra and Krondorf Barossa\u00a0brands, but said the vineyards and physical assets will be sold.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Oakridge Wines in Victoria is one of the key winery assets that Endeavour is offloading.\u00a0Oakridge Wines<\/p>\n

Major blows to Australian wine industry<\/p>\n

The restructure comes at a challenging time for Australia\u2019s wine industry.<\/p>\n

An award-winning wine label in South Australia<\/a>\u00a0collapsed this week, dealing another blow to the country\u2019s floundering industry, as winemakers face an uphill battle to attract younger customers.<\/p>\n

Heartland Wines, a red\u00a0wine<\/a>\u00a0producer located in Norwood in\u00a0Adelaide\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0east, collapsed into voluntary administration this week with debts totalling $3.6 million.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, owner of the iconic Penfolds Wines, Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), posted a staggering loss of almost $650 million\u00a0in its February results<\/a>, driven in part by a huge hole in its international market.<\/p>\n

Famed winemaker Darren De Bortoli also decided to uproot shiraz vines in the\u00a0Riverina and Rutherglen regions in NSW and told\u00a0A Current Affair\u00a0it was due to a \u201cnasty\u201d downturn in wine sales.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just can\u2019t continue to grow grapes and make wine and have the market prices way below the cost of production,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In the domestic market<\/a>, sales of Australian wine declined by three per cent in 2025 to 443 million litres \u2013 the second-lowest (after 2021\u201322) since 2007\u201308.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian alcohol retailer Endeavour Group has confirmed two of its top winemakers have left the business, as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":803248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-803247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/803248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}