Fire destroyed their businesses – this is how they bounced back

Jul 3, 2026 – 12.00amWhen wildfire tore through the central Victorian town of Harcourt in January this year, one of the many buildings destroyed was the century-old cooperative cool store. As I wrote at the time, more than 30 local businesses – winemakers, breweries, cidermakers, spirits makers – used the co-op to store their stock; more than half a million bottles were burned.Winemaker Gilles Lapalus not only stored his bottled wine at the co-op – and the tinctures for the Maidenii brand of vermouth he co-owns with bartender Shaun Byrne – but also made his Maison Lapalus and Bertrand Bespoke wines there. All of it – presses, barrels, bottles – was lost.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Max AllenDrinks columnistMax Allen is The Australian Financial Review's drinks columnist. He is an award-winning journalist and author who has written about wine and drinks for close to 25 years.Fetching latest articles