The scenario he described was probably no one’s idea of a winemaking operation—except his.
Lacking capital at the time to buy or build a winery, and also just starting a family in Adelaide with his wife, Lou, he wanted to keep the business local. He settled on the idea to custom-crush—i.e. rent winery space to crush his wine grapes—but otherwise have complete, on-site control over the fermentation and barrel-aging of the Hewitson wines and their eventual distribution out to Australian and other markets. One way or another, it would require a facility of his own.
“I was searching around for a place to work from, and I came upon this old milk factory,” he wrote in one of his emails. The building he remembered from childhood “was sort of like a dairy, but it sort of wasn’t because they didn’t milk the cows there. They brought all the milk from the dairy farms back to Adelaide.”
A huge thanks to Tony Poer from Al Dente Wines for beautifully capturing our story.
Our Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains aka Frontignac
Oh,how we’ve missed the cosy fire in Cellar Door.....the first of the season is roaring today,come and take shelter with a glass of red! #hewitson #hewitsonwines #cellardoor #barossavalley #mybarossa #aussiewine #southaustralia #seesouthaustralia
Today is Sauvignon day in the winery!This fruit is heading to our 2019 Lulu, a Hewitson favourite with many-bright,zesty Sauvignon from the Adelaide Hills......if only we had ‘smell-o-vision’......#hewitson #hewitsonwines #mybarossa #barossa #cellardoor #sauvignon #adelaidehillssauvignon
Ah,the smell of freshly crushed Barossa Shiraz in the morning is really the classic smell of vintage......#v19 #barossashiraz #hewitson #hewitsonwines #mybarossa #smellslikevintage
I spy with my little eye,our Hewitson event in the Barossa Vintage Festival guide....Dean is hosting a series of lunches during the Festival,but with Thursday already sold out,and only a few tickets left for Wednesday and Saturday,you had better get in quick to secure your ticket! @mybarossa #barossavintagefestival
The excitement of the Santos Tour Down Under passing by Hewitson!Great to see a few guests join us roadside to cheer the men on! #hewitson #hewitsonwines #seppeltsfieldroad
The light at Cellar Door in late afternoon is quite something....what a magical view at all times of the day!Come and enjoy with a glass of Rose in hand.....#cellardoor #hewitson #hewitsonwines #barossavalley #winetime
There’s still plenty of room to grab a glass and a bun,and enjoy this glorious day at our ‘Buns & Belle Ville’ event!!
Enjoy all this tomorrow at our ‘Buns & Belle Ville’ event from 12-4pm.Korean inspired buns from Deliciously Devious and of course,wine by us! And we’ve locked in the weather just to entice you out further......