1. Winemaking

The D’Aquino winery is still s small enterprise by Australian national standards, crushing 5,000 tonnes. However, there is a large program that involves blending and bottling of batches of wine from 20 different regions of Australia. This results in individually styled batches of wine with consistent high quality. The main winery is situated in the old Oak Milk factory (built in 1951) in Muswellbrook., NSW, in the upper Hunter Valley and trades as Hunter Wine Services (Australia) Pty Ltd. Contract winemaking is undertaken in addition to our own activities under the control of CEO and Chief Winemaker, John Hordern.

2. Bottling

D’Aquino Group of Companies runs three modern bottling lines, in three separate locations. Contract bottling is carried out as one of the activities of the company.

D’Aquino Group of Companies currently has bulk storage facilities of 6,000,000 litres, in various tank sizes, as well as a large barrel maturation wine cellar.

3. Vineyard

D’Aquino Group of Companies also trade under the name of Highland Heritage Estate located on 250 acres on the Central Tablelands of New South Wales at Orange, 3kms east of the city. At this site there is currently planted 40 acres of grapes consisting of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon. Grapes are also purchased from the district and surrounds thus giving flexibility for many styles and price ranged wines.

4. Restaurant

Highland Heritage Restaurant is located in the middle of the Highland Heritage Estate Vineyard overlooking the estate. It has the capacity to seat 250 people and specializes in weddings. The restaurant is listed in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide and won awards for the BEST Function Centre in NSW as well as winning the BEST Tourists venue, BEST Theme Restaurant, BEST Restaurant in a Vineyard and Caterer of the year in Country NSW.

5. Wholesale

D’Aquino Group of Companies has a full range of its own label wines and spirits, all bottled in Australia. Complementing this is s full range of general wholesale liquor business stocking in excess of 10,000 products for licensed outlets.

D’Aquino Group of Companies is also a member of NILWA (National Independent Liquor Wholesale Association) which is a group of 10 independent liquor wholesale companies which turned over in excess of A$560 million in 2005.

For more information on NILWA, please visit www.nilwa.com.au

One of D’Aquino Group of Companies’ major wholesale distribution is supplying its own brand of wine & spirits to Australia’s major retail Groups such as Coles Myer Group and Woolworths Pty Ltd who has more than 1,000 retail outlets between them.

6. Retail

D’Aquino Group of Companies operates two large modern retail outlets (direct to the public) in country NSW Australia with the third one due to open towards the end of 2006.

7. Distribution

The main warehouse and head office of D’Aquino Group of Companies is situated in Orange, NSW, Australia, which is approximately three hours west of Sydney. Other distribution facilities are situated in Brisbane QLD, Muswellbrook and Sydney NSW. To facilitate this distribution, D’Aquino Bros Pty Ltd has its own delivery vehicles.

8. Import / Bond

Since 1981, the D’Aquino Group of Companies has imported and bottled spirits under Customs control, i.e. Scotch Whisky, Bourbon Whisky, French Brandy, Gin, Vodka, Ouzo, Tequila (Imported in Bottles), Australian Brandy and Dark Rum. House (own label) brands are a specialty.

9. Export

Own labeled products are exported to New Zealand, Fiji, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, US, Ireland, UK, Denmark and Germany.

Contract products are also exported many other destinations on behalf of clients.