Case Studies
Issue No. 4 - February/March 2002
Kangarilla road
not a drop of blue sky
Notoriously capital expensive, the wine industry is a labor of love for many of its participants. Alongside the spectacular expansion and export success stories lie some nightmares of poverty- stricken startups and oversupply headaches caused by global variables.
All this makes Kevin O’Brien’s rapid but unhurried success with Kangarilla Road seem oddly measured.
Kangarilla Road sprang from the former Stevens Cambrai Winery, which operated for about 20 years and was a well-known stop on the McLaren Vale winetasting circuit.
“We had our eye on the place for a number of years —we looked at greenfields sites, but at the end of the day, we wanted to hit the ground running in an existing operation,” Kevin says.
Kevin is no wine industry newcomer. A winemaker since the 1980s, he has been involved in other wine industry sectors. He joined Robert Hesketh’s firm Industrial Supplies in 1984 and over the next seven years marketed consumables of all kinds to the state's wineries. He has been a wine broker, trade respresentative and business developer. He launched the industry's leading publications, Australian & New Zealand Wine Industry Journal and Wine Industry Directory (both now published by Winetitles) and advised Hillstowe Wines from its launch until the Kangarilla Road opportunity came up in late 1996.
The name change was obviously necessary. Kevin’s second priority for Kangarilla Road was to make the estate more attractive to visitors. A new cellar-door facility now takes in sweeping views over the vineyards, while the old tasting room has made way for an elegant front entrance.
“Production-wise, we kept a couple of tanks and three of the open fermenters. Otherwise, all the plant is new,” Kevin says.
Since 1997 annual production has grown from about 2,000 to 17,000 cases per annum, into a respectable mid-sized winery range. Kangarilla Road sales should peak at about 25,000 cases by 2003. B...
