Tony and Joanne Raffaele bought the popular Batehaven Cellars in March, 1988, after moving to the Shire with their two young daughters.

Now, almost 34 years later, the couple has sold the business to Icebox Liquor, who also own the Malua Bay Cellars, for an undisclosed fee.

Mrs Raffaele told the Bay Post said the couple had originally planned to work for a couple more years, but re-evaluated when Icebox made an offer.

"We weren't originally going to retire," she said. "The new owner walked in one day and asked us if we wanted to sell our business, and we just thought 'you don't look a gift horse in the mouth'.

"Our two daughters, who were two and four when we moved to Batemans Bay, have families in Canberra, so we'll move back there.

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"We've loved it here, it's a great place to bring up children, and we'd like to say thank you to all our staff, wholesalers and companies who have looked after us here."

Batehaven Cellars was already operating for 12 years when the Raffaele's bought the business, and they've spent more than 30 years turning it into one of the most beloved cellars in the Shire.

"When we first started here, the Bayview drive-thru had only just opened," Mrs Rafaelle said.

"There was a little Woolies and the Mariners, and they were the only licenses between Batemans Bay and Malua Bay.

"Since then we've had Coles, Aldi, big Woolies, Surf Beach Cellars, and Dan Murphy's come in, but I can honestly say that hasn't really affected us.

"We find that people come to us for the drive-thru service, and we had a reputation for having the coldest drinks.

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"Batemans Bay was much more of a holiday destination 30 years ago where you had very quiet winters, but over the past 10 years it's become far more constant.

"You've always got people here, and we've built a really good clientele."

Mrs Rafaelle said one of the most interesting aspects of their time at the cellars was watching the alcohol environment change over the years.

"When we started here, the first two drinks in the cool room were Fosters and KB cans," she said.

"We've seen a trend away from mainstream beers to craft beers, we've had a couple of seasons of ciders, and pre-mixed drinks have become bigger and bigger.

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"Wines and sparklings have always been in trend, that doesn't change.

"The biggest change has been the pre-mixed drinks. At the start we might have had three ready-to-drink products, but now there's a massive fridge in the cellar.

"That seems to be the way the industry is going."