Wines

Contact

Copyright & Legal

Winemaking philosophy

Our winemaking philosophy is best described in three parts.

1.) Our first goal is to produce wines that taste of the variety they are made from and of the region they are grown in.

This comes from making the wines in the vineyard. If the fruit is grown correctly, then minimal winemaker intervention is needed to make high quality wine and the wines inevitably retain a sense of place. Whether it be the warmth of the Barossa Valley, the crisp air and stoney soils of Marlborough or the cooling ocean influence of McLaren Vale, it is all captured in the bottle.

2.) Our second goal is to produce wines with what we like to describe as 'drinkability'. This is more traditionally known as balance.

Balance in wine is a trait that is often overlooked in the pursuit of sheer power. Power in wine is great, but not at the expense of balance. Wine should be a social lubricant that can be enjoyed with food, friends and healthy conversation. It shouldn't be something that sends you to sleep. Drinkability is also directly linked to our first goal, because balance in wine results directly from management of the fruit in the vineyard.

3.) Finally, we limit our wines to those made from the most celebrated grape varieties, from only the most acclaimed regions for producing those varieties, wherever they may be, anywhere in the world.

So what does this mean for the drinker of our wines?

Details

It means that by staying very focussed on what each region does best, you inevitably make better wine. Any Hesketh wine can be enjoyed safe in the knowledge that it's the right expression of that grape variety, from the very best region for producing it.

The vineyards that produce the fruit for our wines are also pinpointed within the website, so you can identify the actual bits of dirt that produce the fruit that's in your glass.

Quite simple really - Wines made in the vineyards of the best growing regions.



View Larger Map

The Protagonist - Barossa Valley Shiraz

Barossa Valley Shiraz – Densely flavored, primary fruit driven, with generous use of American oak. Rich, voluptuous shiraz with layers of intense flavour. The Protagonist employs some restraint which gives it a seam of elegance, belying the power of the fruit. It's what we believe the Barossa does best - power with elegance - a style of wine that has become synonymous with Australia and captivated so many around the world.

Details

Fruit for this wine is sourced from mature low yielding vineyards located on the northern (Kalimna & Ebenezer) and western (Seppeltsfield) sub regions of the Barossa Valley. Fruit is picked at optimum ripeness, with individual parcels matched to a selection of American oak where it matures for two years prior to bottling. "Protagonist" - the leader or principal person in a movement, cause, etc.... This wine is so named for a number of reasons. Firstly, shiraz and Barossa Valley shiraz in particular, has been the principal leader of the Australian wine industry internationally. Secondly, the name is an apt description for the role Jonathon Hesketh's father Robert played in the industry in the 70's, 80' and early 90's. Thirdly, it's a good strong name for a good strong wine. Finally - it matches Hamish Macdonalds artwork which has a strong central character.

Usual Suspects - McLaren Vale Shiraz (Viognier)

Shiraz can often be too big and obvious - too much alcohol, too much oak, too much dead fruit, too much of everything. The Usual Suspects simply isn't like this.

It's what McLaren Vale does best - vibrant fruit, complexity, elegance, balance and style. 'Thinking' shiraz that evolves and reveals itself as you progress through the bottle.

The Usual Suspects is named after Hamish Macdonald's artwork, which is a painting of a group of my friends - and this is how Trish tends to refer to them. You'll find more information under the 'artwork' section.

Details

Sun Herald Sydney - Winsor Dobbin - "Splurge"

"McLaren Vale shirazes can be big, alcoholic, aggressive beasts, but this one (with a dash of viognier added) has rather more restraint than most and is all the better for it. It's only 13.5 per cent alcohol and has smoothness and complexity on it's side while at the same time being beautifully balanced and easy to drink. A versatile food wine."



Australian Financial Review - Tim White - 93 Points

"....plenty of cassis and spice and some black pepper, which is unusual for McLaren Vale shiraz. Some peach kernel too. Attacks with cassis and plums, and some more candied peach-like stuff. Perfectly balanced dry tannins balance the sweet fruit and there's subtle oak toastiness too. A damn tasty shiraz. 93/100."

Thirsty Dog - Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon

The marriage of the terra rossa soils of Coonawarra with the Cabernet Sauvignon grape variety has produced some of Australia's greatest and longest living wines. Quite simply, if you're going to produce Cabernet Sauvignon in this country, Coonawarra is one of maybe two regions you'd chose to do it in.

Coonawarra Cabernet is rich in flavour, but with a level of elegance and complexity that makes it one of Australia's signature wines.

Details

Production Notes:

Coonawarra fruit for the Thirsty Dog is sourced from a mature vineyard located in the terra rossa strip between the townships of Coonawarra and Penola.

Grapes were picked at optimum flavour ripeness and after fermentation, the wine was aged in a combination of French and American oak barriques and hogsheads of varying age for a period of approximately 18 months.

The growing season in 2006 was extended by a cool patch mid way through vintage, resulting in Cabernet Sauvignon with flavour ripeness and healthy levels of natural acidity.

In order to retain the structure and flavour of the wine, Thirsty Dog was bottled with minimal filtration.

Hidden Garden - Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

Marlborough and Sauvignon Blanc. If there's a more distinctive place for growing sauvignon blanc, then we've yet to find it. Sometimes however, they can be incredibly herbaceous with a lashing of sugar to fill out the palate. The Hidden Garden is not like this. It is serious Marlborough sauvignon blanc - picked at the right time, so that the wine retains a level of complexity and balance that eliminates the need for residual sugar and makes it, well, complex and drinkable. Moreish.

Details

The Independent Weekly - Philip White - 93 Points

"This is bigger, more thought-out sauvignon than your average Kiwi, and certainly a lot more chop than your average Adelaide Hillsby. Rather than simple grass and acid, it offers layers of complex tropical fruits, with cantalope, banana, custard apple, and jackfruit predominant. There's a cheeky top note of phosphate and burlap, and a neat turn of Chinese gooseberry acid in the finish, but it's really a grand, healthy, viscous beauty. All that plush yellow flesh!" 93 points.


Courier Mail - Ken Gargett

"For anyone who has been living in a deep cave in Bhutan for the past two decades Kiwi sauv blanc from Marlborough has set the wine world alight. Hesketh's Hidden Garden ($25) has a local link, with Jonathon Hesketh, an Aussie making wine from Kiwi grapes. The label is by favourite Brisbane artist Melissa Egan. It blew the others away, proving why lovers of savvy flock here. With pungent gooseberry and herbal notes, it is intense in the extreme with good acidity."

Scissor Hands - Clare Valley (Polish Hill River) Riesling

Clare Valley Riesling - more specifically, Dry Riesling from the Polish Hill sub region of the Clare Valley. This would have to be the wine of choice for anyone seeking out a clean, fresh and dry aromatic white wine. Lime, citrus flavours with floral notes and crisp mineral acidity.
The minute the temperature gets above mildly warm, grab a plate of fresh oysters and a bottle from the fridge, and spend half an hour outside enjoying your own little moment of paradise.

Details

Production Notes:

Riesling grapes for this wine are from a low yielding single vineyard in the Polish Hill sub region of the Clare Valley. (Refer to the attached Google Earth link.)

The fruit achieved optimum flavour ripeness quite early in the growing season, when it was hand picked before the bunches were de-stemmed and crushed in preparation for fermentation.

The free run juice was inoculated with pure yeast culture in a single stainless steel vessel in order to retain the purity of flavour provided by the Riesling grape variety and the Polish Hill growing region. The wine was fermented to dry at a controlled temperature of between 12 -15 degrees prior to fining, filtration and bottling.

We prefer to drink Riesling when it is young and fresh, but the wines also possess an exceptional ability to age with appropriate cellaring.

Perfect Stranger - Kremstal (Austria) Grüner Veltliner

Perfect Stranger (formerly Beautiful Stranger) is the second release of our Grüner Veltliner - Austria's indigenous white grape variety. It has been cultivated there since the Roman age, and it makes a delicious dry, aromatic style of white wine. If you need a point of reference, maybe take dry Riesling then add spice and some palate weight - but it's not Riesling. Quite simply, Grüner Veltliner makes exceptional complex and thought provoking white wine that tastes like, well, Grüner Veltliner! This wine is made in collaboration with friend Berthold Salomon, who's family has been making wines in Kremstal since 1792. Salomon Undhof remains one of Austia's most respected and successful wine producers and you can find out more about them by visiting www.salomonwines.com

Details

Production Notes: Grüner Veltliner grapes for this wine are from three of Berthold Salomon’s vineyards near Krems in Austria. Fifty percent from the terraced Wachtberg vineyard located alongside the Danube River above Krems. The balance from the more elevated and later ripening Sandgrube and Weinzierlberg vineyards In order to accentuate the purity of flavour provided by this grape variety and the unique growing region, the fruit was hand picked before the bunches were de-stemmed and crushed in preparation for fermentation in stainless steel. The wine was fermented to dry at a controlled temperature of between 12 -15 degrees prior to fining, filtration and bottling at the historic Salomon Estate, established in 1792. Grüner Veltliner is a unique white wine which drinks beautifully in it's youth, but like all great grape varieties, it also possess the ability to develop in bottle for an extended period of time with careful cellaring.

The Proposition - South Australian Sparkling

We pondered (agonised even) over what style of sparkling wine to produce. Should we do Champagne? Too expensive... Should we do Asti? Too cheap... Should we do Prosecco? Too obscure... But then my winemaker brother Tom showed me this Fizz he had produced. But it wasn't just any sparkling wine. This was different, and it was bloody difficult to make. The difficulty in making the wine, is probably why we've not been able to find a similar example anywhere else in the world.
The result however, is what has got us pretty excited. It's a bit like having a fresh punnet of strawberries in a glass. Refreshing, fruit sweet, crisp and clean. Drink with anything, anytime, but not just anyone!

Details

Production Notes:

This critical aspect to this sweeter style of sparkling wine is the palate structure and dry finish. This results from a difficult winemaking process that traditional and more economical methods simply cannot replicate.

The base wine is one of the key grape varieties of Champagne; Chardonnay, matured for 12 months with a measured amount of oak handling to provide structure, flavour and colour retention.
Free run Adelaide Hills Semillon juice (cold pressed to minimise solids extraction) provides sweetness and freshness, with fermentation halted very early by chilling and coarse filtration.
The final component of "The Proposition" is a splash of full-bodied, barrel fermented Adelaide Hills Shiraz, which imparts colour, complexity and palate structure.

The result is an attractive blush colour, balancing acidity and most importantly, tannin structure, which delivers a refreshingly dry finish that perfectly balances the initial sweetness on the palate - and encourages further consumption. 

Nb: At bottling, we have chosen a crown seal to close the wine, simply becuase it is the highest quality closure available. Furthermore, you won't lose an eye trying to open it!