Chardonnay, Fracking to Batteries: One Utility’s Evolving Menu

At the Concours des Vins competition in Sydney last year the 175th Anniversary Spring Mountain Chardonnay won a gold medal. Nothing unusual so far -- except the vineyard’s owned by Australia’s largest power supplier.

There’s a bigger rationale at work than winning medals. AGL Energy Ltd. bought Spring Mountain and the Yellow Rock Estate to show that extracting natural gas from coal beds can operate alongside producing vintage wines.