Yarra Valley winery expansion highlights direct to consumer produce

That's according to Helen & Joey Estate sales and marketing manager, Stephen Powell, Gruyere, Yarra Valley.

Mr Powell said as farmers first, it's important for smaller producers to find direct ways to reach consumers and Helen & Joey Estate held a branding model based on strong values in a market that he said had become rapidly over saturated.

"If we want to see the Yarra Valley remain green, and see agriculture, the cost of production and land values, all those sorts of things, it means we do have to massively value add," Mr Powell said.

"Otherwise the competition becomes breaking down land into smaller parcels, and we'll have very affluent people hobby farming and that's not what we want to see in the Yarra Valley, its not what we want for Melbourne."

As a purpose built winery, 2022 was the first harvest they processed everything on site, with their new barrel room computer programmed to ensure perfect conditions, including humidity and temperature range.

"It's that value adding, but direct to consumer, another huge change over the last couple of decades is the economics of distributing wine and how you go to market," Mr Powell said.

"Whether that's through firm values, or providing experience as well as product."

In expanding the winery and intentionally further value adding, their new luxury hospitality venue Re-em is set to open Friday, December 1 2023 and with $3.5 million invested by the state government's Regional Tourism Investment Fund it, can accommodate up to 40,000 visitors annually.

The 100 seat restaurant will be inspired by modern Australia, using a lot ingredients from their own mini market garden, with a twist drawn from the food memory of Chinese owners, Helen and Joey.

Also, with a 16 room hotel, they plan to offer a concierge service to areas across the Yarra Valley, have a tasting room and all wine production is completed at their on-site facilities.

Among the development of their new luxury venue, comes the challenges of farming, with 30 of their maximum 80 acres of fruit bearing vineyards unusable, as a result of Phylloxera, an insect native to North America that destroys vines.

"We went form being capable of being able to produce 250 tonne, to under 100 tonne at the moment," Mr Powell said.

"We used to make about 30,000 litres of pinot gris and at the moment we're making about 2,000."

"Obviously that has an impact on cost of production as well, there's already pressures there, so that adds to it."