In November Casella Wines, which produces the Yellow Tail label, snapped up two Langhorne Creek properties, spanning 360 hectares, for $6.2 million after the only listed landowner in the sector, Cheviot ­Kirribily Vineyard Property Group, was forced into liquidation, The Australian Financial Review reports.

More good news came last week when it emerged the US-based ­Jackson Family Group, owner of the ­Kangarilla-based Yangarra Estate winery, had bought the Clarendon Vineyard in South Australia's prized McLaren Vale region for close to $10 million.

The property, established by the late home builder Alan Hickinbotham, had languished on the market for more than a year, even though its prized vines have supplied fruit to some of the nation's top-tier brands, including Penfolds Grange, Eileen Hardy and Clarendon Hills.

Yet while these deals are long in gestation and prices remain a far cry from the levels enjoyed in boom times, industry participants are confident that 2011 marked the bottom of the market.

Real estate agents are heartened by the reappearance of the big wine producers but for farmers the bad news is there will be no speedy recovery. The most desirable vineyards are changing hands for a fraction of their replacement cost and, despite a slight uptick in the number of transactions, there is little sign that land values have improved.