Knappstein Reserve Lager

Lion will retain control of the Knappstein Brewery brand and production facility following the sale of its Australian premium wine business, Fine Wine Partners (FWP), to Accolade Wines.

FWP owns wine brands including Knappstein Enterprise Winery & Brewery in the Clare Valley, South Australia.

The deal with Accolade allows for continued production of Knappstein Premium Lager on-site, a Lion spokesman told Australian Brews News.

“Lion will continue to operate the Enterprise Brewery and Lion and Accolade will share the Knappstein trademark,” he said.

“Accolade will maintain ownership of the brewery building, which includes the cellar door of the winery, and this will be leased back to Lion.”

Lion said the FWP sale followed a comprehensive strategic review that found considerable investment would be required to grow the division to scale.

“Lion has a range of competing opportunities for investment in its core categories of beer and cider and has been unable to prioritise the investment required to grow Fine Wine Partners to a size justifying its fixed cost base,” said Lion CEO Stuart Irvine.

Last week, Lion launched its own e-commerce platform, MoCu, which sells curated collections of premium beer and wine.