FOSTER'S has cancelled the sale of four vineyards and a winery.
The Australian reports the company had decided the assets were important to its wine strategy.
Foster’s had sold 20 of 36 vineyards which had been identified as surplus to its requirements.
A spokesman for Foster’s has confirmed the company will keep the 150ha Guthrie's vineyard and 246ha Schulz vineyard, both at Wrattonbully on South Australia's Limestone Coast, as well as the 59ha vineyard at Meridian Home on the NSW central coast.
The Bailey's winery and an attached 143ha vineyard at Rutherglen, Victoria, have also been taken off the market.
The spokesman said recent improvements in the quality of fruit produced at the vineyards and further strategic brand planning had identified the vineyards as necessary for new products planned for release next year and beyond.
The decision leaves Foster's with about 1000ha of grapevines across nine Australian properties and one US vineyard still up for sale, as well as the Denman winery in the NSW Hunter Valley, which is set to be closed down if it cannot be sold by the end of the 2011 vintage.
For more details, see The Australian.
