New custodian for Toolangi wine brand

Rochford Wines owner Helmut Konecsny has passed the winery’s Toolangi brand and vineyard assets on to his long-serving winemaker, Kaspar Hermann, and his family, in a major move in the Yarra Valley.

Konecsny said this ensures Toolangi remains a family-owned vineyard as it becomes an independent business.

Konecsny, who purchased Rochford in 2002, has sold the Toolangi brand and its vineyard assets to Hermann, the winemaker who has shaped its wines for years.

Toolangi will now operate independently under Hermann’s direction with Hermann continuing his role as winemaker for both houses.

Konecsny purchased the Toolangi brand from Garry and Julie Hounsell in 2017.

“Wine is made by people, not portfolios,” Konecsny said. “Kaspar has poured his heart into these wines. He has walked these rows through frost and heatwave, through hard vintages and great ones.

"A winery is not barrels and buildings. It is the people who give their lives to it. The proudest thing an owner can do is not to hold on. It is to hand over well, to the right hands. Toolangi is in the right hands.”

For Hermann, the transition fulfills a lifelong dream.

“Every winemaker carries a quiet dream that one day the wines they make might carry their own family’s name behind them,” Hermann said.

“Helmut has made that dream real for us. Nothing changes in the glass. The same vineyards, the same standards, the same hands on every vintage. 

"What changes is the heart behind the label. My children will grow up knowing their name is on a vineyard, and that is because one man chose loyalty over consolidation.”