Dromana Estate Limited
12 January 2005



For Release 12 January 2005


Dromana Estate Limited

Placing and Admission to trading on AIM

Dromana Estate Limited ('Dromana' or the 'Company'), producer and marketer of
premium and ultra premium Australian wine, announces that its shares were
admitted to trading on AIM today. Dromana is also listed on the Australian Stock
Exchange ('ASX').

The Company has raised gross funds of 600,000 by way of a placing of 5,454,545
New Ordinary shares of an average of 11p per share. At the placing price,
Dromana will have a market capitalisation of 3.0 million. The number of
Ordinary Shares in issue immediately following Admission is 26,870,524 Ordinary
Shares. The percentage of Enlarged Share Capital being placed pursuant to the
Placing is 20%.

Grant Thornton Corporate Finance is Nominated Adviser and HB-corporate Broker to
the Company.

Business Summary

Based in Victoria, Dromana is a producer of premium and ultra premium Australian
wine and markets under seven brands. Dromana acquired the assets and business of
Dromana Estate Vineyards in April 2000, which was established in 1982. The
Company has been acquisitive, purchasing Mornington Vineyards Estate in June
2000, a 49% interest in the Yarra Valley Hills Joint Venture in November 2000
and an 80% interest in David Traeger Wines in November 2002. From the outset,
Dromana has been a pioneer in establishing the Mornington Peninsula as one of
Australia's premier cool climate wine regions.

In the UK, Dromana currently sells its wines through distributors to restaurants
and hotels. The Company's main goal in listing on AIM is to raise its profile in
the UK and expand its market presence. Dromana is offering shareholders a 20%
discount on wine purchased direct from the Company. It also plans to introduce
to the UK a Loyalty Programme, currently operating in Australia, for restaurant
and bar owners in the form of a four year share option.

Business Overview

Dromana exports two of its seven brands to the UK restaurant and hotel trade.
The wine retails at under 10.00 a bottle. Later this year, the Company plans to
introduce a third brand with the launch of the David Traeger Verdelho, a 'super
premium wine'. In September 2003, prestigious UK Wine Magazine 'Decanter'
awarded the David Traeger Wines 2001 Verdelho a five star rating. Dromana will
progressively seek to expand the portfolio of wine available in the UK to all
seven of its brands.

Shareholders purchasing direct from Dromana will have access to all its seven
brands which embraces, white, red and sparkling wine. Purchases can be made via
email and fax.

The UK is the largest importer of wine by value in the world and six Australian
wines are in the top 10.

Dromana's key markets include: Ireland, Canada, Russia, Singapore as well as the
UK and Australia. It has recently launched its wine in Korea and Japan. Once
firmly established in the UK, Dromana intend to target the rest of Europe.

Dromana has won many gold, silver and bronze medals, 4 star ratings and other
accolades, both in competition with other Australian wines and those produced
worldwide. Most recently, the 2002 Dromana Estate Pinot Noir was awarded a gold
medal at the 2004 Royal Melbourne Wine Show and the 2003 Mornington Estate Pinot
Noir was awarded a blue-gold award at the 2005 Sydney International Wine
Competition

Current Trading and Prospects

Dromana is in a recovery phase having spent two years restructuring the Company.
The strong Australian dollar, combined with poorly performing Australian
distributors, has impacted on Dromana's profitability.

Reasons for the Placing and use of Funds

The proceeds will be used to increase working capital, repay debt and to assist
in further increasing sales both domestically and internationally, especially in
the United Kingdom, one of the Company's largest export markets.

Placing Statistics

Placing Price 0.11p
(per share on average)

Number of Existing Ordinary Shares 21,415,979

Number of Placing Shares 5,454,545

Number of Ordinary Shares in issue 26,870,524
immediately following Admission

Number of Ordinary Shares under option 7,050,667
immediately following Admission

Fully diluted share capital following the Placing 26,870,524

Percentage of Enlarged Share Capital 20%
being placed pursuant to the Placing

Estimated proceeds of the Placing 480,000
receivable by the Company after expenses


Market capitalisation of the Company 2,955,758
at the Placing Price following the placing




Enquiries:

Richard Green,
Chairman Dromana Estate Ltd
Melbourne, Australia 00 61 3 9509 1262
(not later than 11.00 am UK time)

Luke Cairns
HB-corporate 0207 538 1166

Jacqui Graves
Binns & Co PR Ltd 0207 153 1486



Appendices

Board of Directors

Richard Green (Executive Chairman)

Bachelor of Commerce, CPA, AISA
Director since October 1999, Chairman since March 2002
Mr Green has had a long involvement with the Australian wine industry both as a
director and adviser to a number of wine producers, including St. Hubert's
Wines, Tisdall Wines and Oakridge Vineyards Limited.
Mr. Green is Chairman of Queensland Trustees & Investments Limited, a director
of Institute of Drug Technology Australia Limited and Authorised Investment Fund
Limited, all of which are ASX listed companies. Mr. Green is a former member of
the Australian Stock Exchange.

David Craig (Executive Director)

Bachelor of Economics
Director since October 1999
Mr. Craig has over 30 years experience in the securities industry and was the
Melbourne Manager of Industrial Equity Limited for 12 years prior to founding
the ASX listed Equity and property Investment Corporation Limited.
Mr. Craig is a director of Authorised Investment Fund Limited an ASX listed
company. Mr Craig is a former member of the Australian Stock Exchange.

David Traeger (Executive Director)

Bachelor of Applied Science - Wine Science
Director since November 2002
Mr. Traeger has over 30 years experience in the Wine Industry. Mr. Traeger has
been a consultant winemaker and winemaker for Mitchelton Wines and remains the
winemaker for David Traeger wines after its acquisition by Dromana Estate
Limited.
Mr. Traeger is a board member of the Victorian Wine Industry Association.

Geoff Bell (Non Executive Director)

Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.), CA, FCPA, ACIS, FTIA
Director and Chairman of Audit Committee since July 2004.
Mr. Bell has been a chartered accountant for 30 years and was a partner with
PricewaterhouseCoopers for 20 years. Mr. Bell held several senior positions with
PricewaterhouseCoopers including National Tax Partner, the Australian firm's
representative on the International Tax services Committee and Chairman of the
Asiatax committee.

1.8 Senior Management

Chris Ritchie (Chief Financial Officer & Company Secretary)

Bachelor of Business, Graduate Diploma in International Business, CPA, FCIS
Mr Ritchie has 20 years experience in financial management and corporate
governance in the hospitality, international trade and construction industries.
Mr Ritchie was previously Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Flag
Choice Hotels Limited, Finance Manager for McConnell Dowell Corporation Limited
and Group Accountant for the commodity trading group of Elders Resources NZFP
Limited.

The wines of Dromana Estate, Mornington Peninsula, Australia, with Gary Crittenden
Editor's note: a more recent review of these wines can be found here

Dromana estate is probably the best-known producer from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria (near Melbourne), run by Gary Crittenden. He makes three different ranges. The second label is Schinus Molle, made with grapes bought in from all over the place. These represent excellent value for money and are consistently well made, tasty wines. Then there is the Dromana Estate range, made with estate-grown fruit with a no-holds barred quality approach. Finally, there is a range of Italian-style varietals from fruit grown in the cool King Valley region of Victoria. Gary was friendly and spent a good deal of time explaining his wines, and overall I was extremely impressed. In particular, I loved the Cabernet Merlot and the Reserve Chardonnay (I'm a bit of a sucker for big, complex Chardonnays, and this one was delicious). The Pinot Noirs were interesting rather than spectacular, and of the Italian varietals, I was won over by the Barbera and Sangiovese, but remained unmoved by the tough, fruitless Nebbiolo. Having said this, young Nebbiolo is tough and fruitless in Piedmont too, so maybe this will evolve into something interesting with some bottle age.

Schinus Sauvignon Blanc 1999
Made from grapes grown in the Goulbourn Valley and Swan Hill regions. This is richly aromatic and is a lovely bright fruity wine; very moreish.

Schinus Chardonnay 1998
Lovely soft fresh wine with bright fruit and a bit of toasty oak. Good to very good.

Dromana Estate Chardonnay 1998
Tried side-by-side with the 1999 version. Nice toasty nose: rich, complex and nutty. Ripe with some tropical fruit, with really nice character. Very good.

Dromana Estate Chardonnay 1999
Less oaky on the nose than the 1998, this is quite closed. Bright and spicy fruit on the palate but nicely integrated oak and fruit. Less showy than the 1998, but still good. Gary prefers this to the 1998; for current drinking I'd choose the 1998, although in the long run the 1999 will be superb.

Dromana Estate Reserve Chardonnay 1998
Matured in 100% new French oak. Big nose! Huge, lifted aromas, smoky and complex. On the palate there is rich, spicy ripe fruit and complex barrel ferment character. Spicy and delicious. Excellent.

Dromana Estate Pinot Noir 1998
Tasted alongside the Reserve Pinot Noir. Wonderful light cherry/orange colour, a little bit murky (it is unfiltered). Sweet strawberry-scented nose. On the palate it has soft, earthy, cherry, spicy, strawberry flavours. There is just enough structure to stop it being simply glorified, alcoholic fruit juice, but it's a close call. Interesting, but I'm not sure about it.

Dromana Estate Reserve Pinot Noir 1998
Slightly darker colour than the regular Pinot, and also a bit murky. Quite subdued caramel nose. Soft on the palate with more tannins, but these are hidden by sweet fruit. Complex and spicy, with quite high acid, this is tasty stuff. A thought-provoking wine.

Schinus Merlot 1998
The first bottle of this was badly corked. Remarkably, about a third of it had already been poured, almost exclusively to wine trade pros, who hadnt spotted it (or rather strangely had not bothered to mention it to Gary). This is a successful wine with bright fruit, rich texture and some real character. Very good.

Dromana Estate Cabernet Merlot 1998
Intense cassis-laden and herby nose. There's lots of rich, concentrated character here. Big, ripe, sweet cassis flavours on the palate with some menthol-like richness. Lovely wine; excellent.

Barbera King Valley 1999
Barbera is a versatile variety from Piedmont that has been quite successful in Australia. Youthful and intense, with a spicy medicinal edge and cherry fruit. Tasty wine. Very good.

Sangiovese King Valley 1998
The red grape of Chianti, from Tuscany. Herby nose. Rich, acid-laden palate with spicy cherry fruit. A good food wine. Very good.

Nebbiolo King Valley 1998
This is the noble grape from Piedmont, responsible for Barolo and Barbaresco. But it doesn't travel well. Lighter colour with a browning rim. Tannic; not fruit driven. Plenty of Italian character and good acidity, but it is missing something. OK.

Wines tasted May 2000

The wines of Dromana Estate/Gary Crittenden, Victoria

Dromana Estate City Office, Level 9 / 406 Collins Street Melbourne Victoria 3000
Tel: +61 3 9600 3242 Fax: +61 3 9600 3245
E-mail: info@dromanaestate.com.au
Dromana Estate Cellar Door and Mornington Estate Cafe, RMB 555 Old Moorooduc Road, Tuerong Vic 3915
Tel: 03 59 744 400 Fax: 03 5974 1155
E-mail: decd@bigpond.com

It's been more than three years and a lot of tasting since I last reviewed the wines of Gary Crittenden. I first met him at the London Wine Trade Fair in May 2000, when he patiently and enthusiastically talked through his wines with an unknown wannabe wine journalist... Returning to these new vintages, I was similarly impressed by the Dromana Estate wines from the Mornington Peninsula region (Melbourne's playground for the well heeled) - these are wines that don't get written about much, but the quality is right up there.

Originally established in 1982 by Gary, he's since sold his company which is now publicly listed and consists of five brands: Dromana Estate, David Traeger Wines, Mornington Estate, Yarra Valley Hills and Garry Crittenden i Italian range. His son Rollo has been making the wines since 2002.

The Gary Crittenden range of Italian varietals are interesting and in some instances superb wines. But I came away once again thinking that they really should be more compelling than they actually are. They still taste quite Australian, but with subdued, very savoury fruit. The Arneis is fascinating, and is very unusual - this is probably my favourite, partly because it tastes quite Italian. I'd still recommend these wines for those in an experimental mood, but they're best with food because of their intensely savoury character.

Dromana Chardonnay 2000 Mornington Peninsula
Very attractive nutty style with well judged oak. Quite classy and complex. Very good/excellent

Dromana Chardonnay Reserve 2001 Mornington Peninsula
Appealing complex, nutty nose with a bready, herby lift. Nicely weighted palate is quite classy and rich. Very good/excellent

Dromana Pinot Noir 2000 Mornington Peninsula
Tight, herby, savoury nose. Chewy savoury palate displays herby fruit and good acid. Appealing. Very good/excellent

Dromana Pinot Noir Reserve 2001 Mornington Peninsula
More structured but similar profile of rich, herby, savoury fruit, with some tannins. Theres rich, spicy berry fruit with a touch of medicinal complexity on the palate. Expressive and rich. Very good/excellent

Dromana Cabernet Merlot 2001 Mornington Peninsula
Rich, ripe nose showing well defined berry and black fruits. Nice spicy edge to the palate. Very good/excellent

Dromana Shiraz 1999 Mornington Peninsula
Nice tight savoury berry fruit nose with a tarry edge. Firm, spicy, expressive palate with some firm tannins and notes of white pepper. An expressive and fairly elegant take on Shiraz. Very good/excellent

Gary Crittenden Arneis 2002 King Valley
A white grape brought over from Piedmont, Gary has just 400 vines of Arneis. Interesting lifted nose with yeasty savoury fruit. Quite nutty high acid palate. Unusual and interesting, this even tastes a bit Italian. Very good+

Gary Crittenden Rosato 2002 King Valley
Faint orangey pink from the Nebbiolo and Sangiovese that were used to make it. Sweet spicy strawberry nose with a herby edge. Savoury, slightly nutty palate. Nice. Very good+

Gary Crittenden Dolcetto 2001 King Valley
Sweetly spiced nose of lifted berry fruit. Savoury, high acid palate is quite challenging with a slightly gingery edge. Very good

Gary Crittenden Barbera 2000 King Valley
Richly fruited, slightly tarry nose with a spicy edge. Chewy, chunky palate with nice acidity. Quite tight and challenging despite the concentration. Very good+

Gary Crittenden Sangiovese 2001 King Valley
Savoury, spicy nose. Good density of savoury, herb-tinged spicy fruit on the palate. Quite rich. The acidity is in better balance than some of the other reds. Very good+

Gary Crittenden Nebbiolo 1999 King Valley
Slightly orange brown in colour. Intense, leathery, spicy fruit with good acidity. Quite unusual and noticeably Nebbiolo. Savoury and quite impressive; needs time to evolve some interest on the nose. Very good+

I get mine from Laithwaites have not had a bad bottle yet.

MS

Best line .....'Wines tasted May 2000'....they must be pretty yuck by now!

Click here for Dromana website.

Hils
For some reason I fully expected that link to take me to some joke website.You must be mellowing.

Just trying to help you with your ramp, Jeffie ...... after all, this old dog needs all the help it can get.

:o)

Just replace Majestic Wine with Dromana Estate.