Australian Vintage has opened a new bottling facility at its Merbein site in Victoria.

The winemaker has made an A$11m ($7.8m) investment in the project to support both sparkling and still wine bottling for its McGuigan, Tempus Two and Nepenthe brands.

The facility will be able to package still and sparkling wines at 11,000 and 7,000 bottles per hour respectively.

Australian Vintage anticipates that the investment will also significantly speed up its product innovation pipeline and enable it to launch new wines more quickly in response to growing consumer demand.

“We embarked on a meticulous two-year search for the best possible machinery available, which took us right across the globe.”

Australian Vintage CEO Neil McGuigan said: “The opening of our new Merbein packaging facility is a landmark moment for Australian Vintage and represents a step change in our capabilities as Australia’s fifth largest wine company.

“The A$11m investment we have made means we now have one of the most technologically advanced packaging sites in the world. We embarked on a meticulous two-year search for the best possible machinery available, which took us right across the globe.

“As a result, I am confident this investment will take our already outstanding quality reputation to the next level. It will also allow us to create new and exciting products for both domestic and global markets.”

The investment is reported to be part of the company’s A$19m ($13.5m) capital injection across its locations.

It installed a solar plant at its Buronga Hill facility in New South Wales (NSW), and has also committed to new vineyard plantings on 180ha.