In his opening remarks to analysts and investors this morning, Treasury Wines boss Michael Clarke admitted ''there is a lot that needs to be fixed'' at the winemaker, which owns brands such as Penfolds, Wolf Blass and Rosemount.

He confirmed the company needed a leaner cost base and that all options were on the table to improve shareholder value.

Treasury Wines could also be planning the sale of some of its poorer performing and commercial wine brands.

Mr Clarke told analysts this morning that 83 brands in the portfolio could be too many to operate successfully.

He said he wasn't ''emotionally attached'' to any particular wine brand and was prepared to sell off labels as required.

''If those brands are better off in someone else's hands than our hands, so be it,'' Mr Clarke said.

He said the ''peanut butter approach'' of spreading marketing investment into all of the company's brands was not working with Treasury Wine's getting better value for money by supporting its key premium brands and some bottom end commercial wines that are popular with consumers.

There would also need to be excess costs taken out of Treasury Wine's supply chain.

Treasury Wines owns a huge portfolio of brands in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America. They are the legacy of billions of dollars in acquisitions made by the company when it was part of brewer Foster's. Mr Clarke said he had started to form the view Treasury Wine's brand portfolio looked too big, and that this made it difficult to treat all brands in the portfolio the same way.

He said other underperforming wine brands that weren't sold would be polished up to generate shareholder value. Savings made from cost reductions would be invested in marketing and brand support.

Earlier, in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, Mr Clarke said that since officially commencing in the role on March 31 he has spent extensive time kicking the tyres of the business, including inspecting its underperforming vineyards and assets in America, and believed immediate action including reducing costs was needed to improve the business.

''While there are a number of actions to be taken to improve Treasury Wine's performance, my immediate focus is on running the business. It is however, already clear to me that Treasury Wine must take action to reduce overhead expenditure, reinvesting these savings back into consumer and brand marketing.''

Mr Clarke, who has a background in fast moving consumer goods working for companies such as Kraft and Reebok, also said he was committed to the strategy laid down by his predecessors to shift Treasury Wine's production focus up the price curve to more expensive wines, also known as a ''premiumisation'' in the industry.

Mr Clarke will expand on his cost reduction plans further this morning but his comments could mean the winemaker is in for a tough round of cost cutting and job losses as the new boss attempts to right size the business and improve its earnings, especially in the US where its biggest asset, US wine group Beringer, is suffering weakening earnings and profitability.

For the half year, Treasury Wine reported flat sales of $864.2 million as profits halved to $25.7 million.

Mr Clarke also said this morning he would seek stronger, long term relationships with the winemaker's major customers and distributors.