Buy acclaimed WA winery, get three houses

The owners of acclaimed WA winery, Aravina Estate, have listed their sprawling property for sale to pursue other career options.

Perth businessman Steve Tobin and his wife Hayley are selling the estate they have curated over the past seven years so Tobin can turn his attention to interests in the oil and gas sector.

The 74ha property, set over two titles at 61 and 77 Thornton Road, Yallingup Siding, was established in 1986 as Amberley Estate.

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Since 2010, the couple has invested heavily, building its viticulture and wine production businesses as well as other ventures including weddings and special events, the restaurant, cellar door and the Aravina Cucina business, which sells local produce and corporate hampers.

The Margaret River property has an annual turnover of $5 million.

“We’ve spent about $15 million doing Aravina up, fixing it up and improvements,” Tobin says.

“It’s a premium Margaret River vineyard and wine brand. The property is 180 acres, there’s about 80 acres under vine and the vines are a bit over 30 years old now so there’s a lot of pedigree in the grapes we produce.”

Tobin says Aravina currently produces 8000 cases of wine a year and sells the remaining grapes to other major producers, but has capacity for 25,000.

“We had a bumper crop this year, our largest crop ever of 250 tonnes of grapes of which about 70 tonnes we use for our own purposes and the rest of it was sold.”

The estate has a vintage car collection which is popular with tourists.

The estate, which boasts Hamptons style architecture, is an established tourism drawcard with a car gallery showcasing a private collection of vintage and sports cars. It has also become known for its beautiful, manicured gardens, including its hydrangeas.

On-site warehouses, three manager’s residences, a children’s playground, machinery sheds, dams, irrigation and vineyard infrastructure are included in the sale.

Tobin says while Aravina Estate is located on one title, the adjoining 8ha lot would be ideal to develop accommodation to complement the existing businesses.

The winery is also used for functions such as weddings.

“It’s the perfect site for a boutique hotel on the hill. I believe we have the zoning for something from a 25 to 50-room boutique hotel and it’s got panoramic views over the vineyard, to Busselton and Geographe Bay.

“Hayley and I have built Aravina up over seven years. It’s profitable now, it has strong cash flow, it’s got to the point that it’s in the operational phase, which is fun, but we enjoy building businesses too so it’s time to move on and do something different.

“We have interests in oil and gas as well so I have to throw myself into that business too…We can’t do everything so my focus is to go back on oil and gas and Hayley wants to pursue other things too,” Tobin says.

Aravina now produces 16 different wines and has an annual turnover of $5 million, Tobin says. It will be sold as a going concern.

Brian Moulton from Acton South West is managing the sale. Expressions of interest close on July 7.