TWE sells Tollana to Sword — Bin TR16 & TR222 to return
Sword Distribution — Giuseppe Minissale, Daryl Fisher and Hiep Le — has bought the historic South Australian Tollana brand from Treasury Wine Estates and plans to revive Bin TR16 Shiraz and Bin TR222 Cabernet. The deal follows TWE’s cut toward fewer than 30 brands and the Seppelt Great Western sale about a week earlier.
A Barossa-era name is leaving the big portfolio — and heading back to the trade.
Sword Distribution has bought Tollana Wines from Treasury Wine Estates. The three principals — Giuseppe Minissale, Daryl Fisher and Hiep Le — are already talking to South Australian winemakers about a relaunch. On the list: new releases under Bin TR16 Shiraz and Bin TR222 Cabernet Sauvignon, the labels drinkers knew in the 1980s and 1990s.
Tollana’s roots sit with Tolley, Scott & Tolley (1888); wines were made at Nuriootpa in the Barossa, with Eden Valley fruit in the story too. Penfolds took the brand in 1987; it later sat inside Southcorp and then TWE. Older TR16 and TR222 bottles still turn up at auction.
TWE said in June it would shrink a book of 76 brands toward under 30. About a week before Tollana, Seppelt Great Western went to Aaron Drummond and co-investors. Rouge Homme left for the Redman family in May. Sword has not yet named first vintages or on-shelf dates.
Mini-concept: portfolio surgery creates orphans with provenance. A distributor who remembers the Bin names can buy the story — if the SA fruit still matches the memory.
Keep: a ready-to-drink can never carried a Barossa Bin code. Tollana did — watch whether TR16 and TR222 taste like the wedding wine again.
Remember: Sword (Minissale, Fisher, Le) buys Tollana from TWE; plans Bin TR16 Shiraz + Bin TR222 Cabernet; talks with SA winemakers; TWE cutting 76 brands toward <30; follows Seppelt Great Western sale ~1 week earlier.
Source: The Shout / WBM Online