The world’s biggest deliberate wine destructions
11th October, 2017
by
Patrick Schmitt
Million-litre loss in Oz

Four tanks were drained at Riverland Vintners, leading to a loss of 1.2m litres of wine
Our biggest loss in terms of pure volume comes from Riverland Vintners in South Australia, where 1.2m litres of wine were drained after vandals deliberately opened the taps on four tanks.
As reported by the Adelaide Advertiser, the attack occurred at the winery in Monash on Monday 28 December 2015.
A fence had been cut at the back of the winery to gain access to the tanks. According to witnesses, pools of red wine could be seen at the entrance of the winery after the attack and a strong smell of fermented grapes hung in the air.
Owned by the SA Wine Group, Riverland Vintners provides contract winemaking services and has the capacity to crush 25,000 tonnes of fruit a year with 30 million litres of tank storage available.