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Man destroys A$300k of wine in Barossa

A man has been arrested after allegedly opening the taps of four tanks of wine at an estate in the Barossa Valley last weekend.

Mark Pearce

Taking place at the Kellermeister Winery near Lyndoch last Sunday, the sabotage led to the loss of around 25,000 litres of wine worth more than AU$300,000.

Adelaide Now reported that the wine lost was, in the owner Mark Pearce’s words, “just some old Chardonnay” from the 2010 and 2011 vintages and Pearce (pictured) told the paper he was “relieved” none of the 2015 vintage had been touched.

“That would have been pretty unfortunate but we are very lucky,” he said.

ABC news reported that police have arrested a 57 year old man on charges of property damage. He has subsequently been released on bail and will face Elizabeth Magistrates Court at the end of March.

No reasons behind the sabotage have been revealed but in previous instances of this kind such as at Soldera in 2012 and in Hawke’s Bay and France in 2013, the culprits are either disgruntled employees or simply vandals.

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