Accolade, Pernod Ricard wines merged in 2024; famous and historic South Australia brands put into one global fold

Pernod Ricard’s Jacob’s Creek, Orlando Wines and St Hugo wines from South Australia's Barossa Valley were among the Pernod Ricard wine portfolio (grouped in the middle ,above) that merged with Accolade Wines and its prominent South Australian brands Hardy’s, Grant Burge, Petaluma (at left), St Hallett and Banrock Station (at right) in 2024.
Images courtesy Pernod Ricard and Accolade Wines

Barossa Valley wine brands Jacob’s Creek, Orlando Wines and St Hugo joined other famed South Australian brands such as Hardy’s, Grant Burge, Petaluma, St Hallett and Banrock Station in one stable under the global merger of Pernod Ricard’s wine division and Accolade Wines in 2024.

Australian Wine Holdco Limited (AWL), the new investor group that owned Accolade Wines from 2024, arranged the merger with Pernod Ricard’s Australian, New Zealand and Spanish wine businesses in a deal to create a major combined entity from both their extensive international presences..

The most prominent wine products of Accolade Wines and Pernod Ricard had links to the deep South Australian wine history. Accolade Wines tracedits beginning to Thomas Hardy and Sons, a company founded in South Australia in 1853 and growing to become Australia's largest winemaker. The portfolio of Pernod Ricard, a Franch company, featured some household names, including South Australia’s Jacob’s Creek – bought with its takeover in 1989 of Barossa Valley’s Orlando Wines, started in 1847 by Bavarian immigrant Johann Gramp.

For Accolade, the deal with Pernod Richard followed the end of merger talks between it and listed South Australian wine business Australian Vintage that owned Nepenthe and Barossa Valley Wine Company.

Australian Wine Holdco Limited (AWL) spokesperson Joshua Hartz – a partner of global investment firm Bain Capital – said both Accolade and Pernod Ricard had a “long, proud history as world-class wine producers. Combining Accolade Wines with the Pernod Ricard assets will create a more certain and financially sustainable future for the business, allowing us to better serve our customers, in more segments and more geographies.”  He said that, backed by AWL, the combined business will be better able to adapt to changing consumer tastes and meet the structural challenges facing the global wine industry.

Pernod Ricard said the sale of the wine brands would “further strengthen its premiumisation strategy and to direct its resources to its portfolio of premium international spirits and champagne brands that drive the growth of its business”.