VINES that have produced grapes for one of Australia’s premier wine labels will be pulled out as owner Phil Bennett makes a downturn in the industry his cue towards retirement.
Mr Bennett first planted shiraz and cabernet grapevines at the Serpentine property he named Turners Crossing in 1999.
His wines have had consistent five-star rating from James Halliday and was awarded a Double Gold at the 2023 Intercontinental Wine Challenge for the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon.
A Gold Medal for the 2018 The Crossing Shiraz at the 2024 Intercontinental Wine Challenge also sat besides  multiple gold medals at the International China Wine and Spirit Awards in 2014.
But Mr Bennett said an industry downturn and the decision of Treasury Wine Estates to cease buying grapes from Victorian suppliers, including Turners Crossing, had presented “a good opportunity to retire”.
The 88-hectare property has been put on the market and Mr Bennett expects all grapEvines will be removed before any sale is finalised.
Turners Crossing released its first vintage in 2004, five years after the first vines were planted.
While shiraz and cabernet dominate the vineyard, small parcels of the block have been planted with viogner, grenache and picolit varieties.
Mr Bennett said no decision had been made on the future of the Turners Crossing label.
“We currently have new wine in oak (barrels) and there are plenty of grapes around that we could buy from the existing terroir (climate, soil of the region),” Mr Bennett said.
“We don’t want to drop our distinctive flavour.”
Turners Crossing wines fit within the mid-range of the market. However, large exporters are pitching their product to a higher price range in China.
Mr Bennett said the rise of Chile and Argentina in the market had also not helped international prospects for Australia. “The market is moving in the wrong direction for growers like us.”
The Turners Crossing name honours former local publican, Thomas Turner, who purchased land at the site in 1868 and “bears the well-trodden footprints of farmers who used this passage to cross the river”, according to promotional material for the winery.
FP Nevins and Co, Inglewood, will auction the former vineyard next month.