Grab a glass of wine, pull up a pew and let us tell you the story of Hentyfarm. It all begins in Henty, in Victoria’s Far South West. Relatively untapped for years, this region’s potential has caught the interest of a few shrewd producers. Now, word is out that it’s a hot spot for cool-climate wine production. In 2009, we spent several weekends traipsing through Henty in the Victorian countryside
with winemaker Adam Wadewitz and his partner Nikki. We just couldn’t turn our backs on this magical combination of super cool climate, limestone bedrock soils and passionate growers, who were guiding the grapes through the sometimes arduously cool and wet conditions. We spent our nights hatching a plan to bring our expression of Henty wines to life. What happened next is a happy tale of mateship and camaraderie. Our first vintage (2009) was made for family and friends. A Chardonnay, small in number but big on elegance, was a sign of things to come. The second vintage (2010), our first foray into selling wines to friends, restaurants and the retail market, featured a chardonnay and a pinot noir, embraced for their delicate touch and understated style and finesse. The third vintage (2011), also a Pinot noir and a Chardonnay, was made from grapes cultivated by renowned Henty grower Alastair Taylor. When 2012 came around, the continuing fine, linear style of the wines was further established. We were living the dream, making European-style wines of subtlety and restraint, with no guiding forces other than our own creativity and a little experimentation thrown in for good measure. In 2013, a Pinot Gris was added to the range, made from celebrated Drumborg grapes tended carefully by “biological grape farmers” Jack and Lois Doevan. In the same year, Adam and his family left Victoria for work in South Australia, and Belinda and Jono embraced full curatorship of Hentyfarm. Hentyfarm is about artistic expression at its most elemental. It starts in the vineyard, where our relationship with the growers is based on respect as custodians of the land. Then the alchemy begins, where the combination of low intervention winemaking, native and introduced yeasts and naturally driven hand-plunged ferments, using older French oak, culminate in wines of finesse and elegance. Our collective approach is rustic and minimal, holding true to the idea that this winemaking venture is a farming practice. The Hentyfarm family is fiercely intent on keeping our production small and handcrafted. Our wines are not rushed to market, their refined European style needing more time in bottle to develop and soften before heading out to our supportive friends and Australia’s best restaurants and liquor stores. Despite Hentyfarm’s small beginnings and resolve to make wine for family and friends, we are working hard to stamp the Henty region on Australia’s vast viticultural map. Watch this space.
