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“Dave gets on the piss”: Edition #228 Kaiora Bay Pinot Noir 2022 From Otago, NZ and made for Aldi by Minchinbury (owned by Pinnacle, which is owned by Endevour, which owns BWS, Dan Murphy’s, ALH hotels etc). Light bodied, easy drinking, 89/100 About $18 at Aldi

Endeavour didn't ruin Australian wine by accident. With Dan Murphy's and BWS dominating retail, it became a gatekeeper. Winemakers now sell on Endeavour's terms or not at all. It squeezes margins until small producers make wine to a price point instead of a place.

Independent bottle shops ftw. Farmers market wineries ftw.

Correct. But both are suffering because of the insatiable brand Endevour Group.

It fills shelves with house brands dressed up as boutique labels, and it has trained shoppers to see wine as a number rather than a region or a winemaker.

The result is a sea of interchangeable $15 bottles and growers pulling out vines. Endeavour didn't kill wine. It just made most of it taste like a quarterly earnings target.