Top pinot worth millions destroyed

DAVID HALLETT/The Press

UP IN SMOKE: Crater Rim Winery, owned by the Coles family, lost 150 barrels of pinot noir in Thursday night's fire.

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Thousands of litres of wine worth millions of dollars has been destroyed in a fire at Waipara Valley's award-winning Crater Rim Winery.

About 150 barrels, the equivalent of more than 41,000 bottles of pinot noir, were ruined in the fire along with about eight tanks carrying thousands of litres of white wine and a small amount of bottled wine.

Crater Rim Winery sales and marketing manager Ben Coles said the 2009 pinot noir vintage was tipped to be the best in the Waipara Valley, but Crater Rim would miss out.

"We still have our entry level pinot, but the fancy stuff we get awards for has gone up in smoke."

The top quality pinot noir could have fetched more than $100 a bottle, he said.

The family-owned winery sourced its grapes from contract growers and also made wine under contract for other growers.

Wine being made for eight small Waipara growers was also ruined, Coles said.

"People have been texting me saying, Crater Rim is now just a crater."

The winery featured in a recent Cuisine magazine with a headline of "Hot Coles".

"I think they might have jinxed us," Coles said.

Crater Rim managing director Graeme Coles, who lives about 200 metres from the winery, said he heard bottles exploding after 11pm on Thursday and when he went to investigate saw the fire.

Passers-by had already seen it and alerted the Fire Service, but the winery was 20 minutes from the nearest fire station.

The Fire Service said it received a call at 11.41pm and the first appliance from Waipara, 10 kilometres away, arrived at 11.55pm. Four fire engines and four tankers attended.

Ben Coles said the door of one of the stainless steel tanks blew out and flew through a wall narrowly missing a fireman.

The exact cause of the fire has yet to be determined, but Graeme Coles said it appeared to be an electrical fault.

"I'm sure you could imagine what it was like. It was all very surreal," he said.

The winery was insured, but Coles said he needed to find out exactly what was covered.

He hoped to rebuild the winery in time for the next vintage in March.