Vineyard and winery loans for grape growers and winemakers

What are vineyard and winery loans?

A vineyard loan is finance for a grape-growing property. A winery loan is finance for the production of wine, including tanks, presses, barrels and premises. Many businesses are both, and some add a cellar door, restaurant or accommodation. Each part of the business has its own economics, and lenders see them differently.

Wine is a global product made in local places, from the Barossa and McLaren Vale in South Australia to the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Rutherglen in Victoria, the Hunter Valley and Orange in New South Wales, Margaret River in Western Australia, Tasmania and many more. Each region has its own grape varieties, scale and market pressures. Ownright Custom Finance arranges vineyard and winery finance Australia-wide, tuned to those differences.

How do lenders assess a vineyard business?

• Vines. Variety, age, rootstock, condition and trellising. Older vines of strong varieties may carry more value than aging blocks of oversupplied varieties.
• Region and site. Reputation, climate, soil, frost and heat risk.
• Water. Entitlements and infrastructure, particularly in irrigated regions.
• Sales channels. Contracts with wineries, spot sales, own wine sales, cellar door, wholesale or export.
• Production and quality. Yields, quality grading and returns per tonne across seasons.
• Costs. Labour, pruning, harvesting, spraying, machinery and overheads.
• Market conditions. Lenders pay attention to Wine Australia’s market information and regional trends.
• Tourism and brand. For cellar-door businesses, trading history and visitor patterns.

Grower, maker and cellar door: three different lending stories

Business type	Main income	Lender focus	Finance angle
Grape grower	Fruit sales to wineries	Contracts, vine quality, region, water	Land loan, replanting, machinery
Winemaker	Wine sales	Brand, stock, distribution, cash cycle	Working capital, plant, stock finance
Cellar door and tourism	Visitors, tastings, functions	Trading history, location, brand	Property and fit-out loans, business finance
Integrated estate	A mix of all of the above	Overall viability and diversification	Combined facility with tailored structure

Who do vineyard loans suit?

• Growers buying or expanding a vineyard
• Winemakers investing in plant, stock or premises
• Families refinancing after a lender stepped back from wine
• Owners adding a cellar door, restaurant or accommodation
• Buyers from other industries moving into wine
• Estates restructuring after a period of oversupply or lost contracts

If a vineyard is part of a broader mixed farm, see rural business loans and farm debt restructure.

How does Ownright approach wine industry finance?

Wine lending requires an understanding of both agriculture and brand. We look at the whole estate: vines, plant, stock, brand strength, contracts and customers. Often the deciding factor is how clearly the business explains where its income comes from and how it will cope through a tougher market.

We work with mainstream lenders where they fit and non-bank and private lenders where they do not. For example, a vineyard with a contract coming to an end may not tick a bank’s boxes, but a lender who accepts a transition plan and the land as security might. Trevor Scott has spent over 40 years finding such lenders for clients whose files do not fit the standard mould.

If you want to talk through your vineyard or winery, get in touch with Ownright and we will start with your plan.

Common vineyard situations

Illustrative example: lost contract. A grower has supplied the same winery for years, but the contract has not been renewed. The bank asks for a plan. A refinance with a longer term and interest-only period, supported by a search for new buyers or a shift to different varieties, can create time.

Illustrative example: cellar-door expansion. A family wants to build a tasting room and function space. The vineyard income is steady, but the new build is a tourism investment. A staged loan secured over the property can fund the build, with trading history from the vineyard supporting the application.

Illustrative example: buying a vineyard from another industry. A buyer with business income elsewhere wants to purchase a small estate. Off-farm income is treated as the main servicing source, with the vineyard as security.

Mistakes to avoid

1. Assuming strong past demand for a variety will continue.
2. Borrowing for new plantings without a sales channel.
3. Ignoring water entitlements and costs when buying.
4. Treating cellar-door projections as certain.
5. Letting contract expiry dates approach without a plan.
6. Waiting until arrears occur before seeking advice.

What to have ready

• Grape contracts or sales records
• Vintage reports and yield data
• Financial statements and tax returns
• Block map with variety, age and area
• Water entitlement details
• Winery plant and stock schedules, if relevant

Wine Australia publishes market and production insights, and state bodies such as PIRSA provide regional information.

Vineyards are long-term investments, and the right finance helps them stay that way. Start a vineyard finance enquiry and we will review what is available. Approval cannot be guaranteed, but you will have a broker who understands the territory.

How does vine age and variety affect value?

Vines take a few years to produce a commercial crop and reach their best quality later still. Older vines on good sites can be highly valued, while blocks of varieties that have fallen out of favour may be worth less to a buyer or lender. A block map listing variety, clone, rootstock and age gives a lender a clear sense of the asset, and valuers often use it as a starting point.

How does water affect a wine-grape loan?

In irrigated regions, water entitlements may be a major part of the property’s value, and allocation levels can change season to season. Rainfed regions face different risks, including frost, drought and heat events. Either way, lenders want to understand your water security and what happens in a poor allocation year. Listing entitlements, storage and past allocation outcomes helps.

What about bushfire smoke, frost and heat?

Weather events can reduce yield or quality, and in some years affect whether fruit is accepted at all. Lenders consider this when assessing risk, and insurance cover is part of the picture. If you have had a bad vintage due to a weather event, explain what happened, how you responded and what you have changed. Including that context stops a single poor result from defining your application.

How does the wine cash cycle shape a winemaker’s loan?

Growing grapes pays within months of harvest. Making and selling wine does not. Red wine may sit in tank and barrel for a year or more before it is bottled, and some wines are held longer still before release. During that time the winemaker has paid for fruit, labour, barrels and energy but has not yet sold the product. Lenders understand the pattern, but they want to see it laid out. A simple schedule showing what is in tank, barrel and bottle, when each lot is expected to sell, and what working capital is needed to bridge the gap goes a long way. Stock held for ageing can form part of the security in some structures, and equipment finance can fund tanks, presses and bottling lines separately from the land.

What does the Wine Equalisation Tax mean for the numbers?

Wine sold in Australia is subject to the Wine Equalisation Tax, and eligible producers may be able to claim a producer rebate under rules the ATO publishes. The treatment affects margins, particularly for smaller producers selling through cellar doors and direct channels. Lenders reading your accounts will see the effect, so it helps to explain how your accountant treats it. This is tax territory, and your accountant is the right person to confirm what applies to your business. We simply make sure the lender gets a clear picture of net income.

How do harvest and labour costs affect lending?

Harvest brings a spike in labour and machinery cost. Some vineyards use contractors with mechanical harvesters, while premium blocks are often hand-picked. Pruning, canopy management and spraying also need skilled and sometimes seasonal staff. Lenders ask how these costs are covered and whether they are rising. If you own harvesting or pruning machinery, it may be financed separately, and our farm equipment finance page explains the options. If you rely on contractors, a note on how long those relationships have run is useful.

What differs between wine regions and states?

Wine regions have their own economics. Cool-climate regions in Tasmania and Victoria often focus on premium, lower-yield production with strong cellar-door trade. Warmer irrigated regions along the Murray focus on volume, with fruit sold into larger wineries. Western Australia’s Margaret River and South Australia’s old-vine regions each have their own identity and buyer pool. Water rules, planning for cellar doors and tourism, and local council zoning vary by state. We take those differences into account when choosing lenders and presenting the file, and our water and irrigation finance page covers the water side in more detail.

What should I check before buying a vineyard?

Vineyards look beautiful on a good day. A careful buyer looks beyond the view:

• Block map with variety, clone, rootstock, age and area for each block
• Several years of yields, tonnes sold, and grading or quality results
• Grape contracts, and whether they transfer to a new owner
• Water entitlements, bore licences and storage, and their registration
• Condition of trellising, irrigation lines and drainage
• Winery plant, if included, with age and compliance details
• Any brand, label or trademark that is part of the sale
• Cellar-door planning permits and liquor licence details

Findings here change what a lender is willing to fund. Bring us in before the contract is final, and we can tell you how a lender is likely to treat the purchase. For the wider buying process, see farm purchase loans and the buying a farm finance checklist.

How does Ownright help when a vineyard is under pressure?

Stress usually builds slowly: a lost contract, two poor vintages, a fall in cellar-door visitors, rising costs. By the time a bank asks for a plan, options feel narrow. They are often wider than they look. A refinance to a lender who values the land, a facility split that separates winery plant from the vineyard, a short-term private facility to buy time while contracts are renegotiated, or an orderly sale of surplus blocks can each form part of a plan. We weigh these against your goals, including whether you want to keep the estate. Early conversations leave more choices open, so contact Ownright before the pressure builds. If your debts have multiplied, the farm debt restructure page explains how a restructure can pull them into a workable shape.