Hardys

IT’S THE YEAR 1850 AND AS THE BRITISH EMPIRE EXTENDS TO THE FURTHEST REACHES OF THE GLOBE, AN INTREPID YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR, WITH A SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE AND A DESTINY YET UNKNOWN, EMBARKS FROM THE DOCKS OF DEVON FOR THE ‘NEW WORLD’ ACROSS THE SEA. HIS ENTHUSIASM, WORK ETHIC, PIONEERING SPIRIT AND SELF-BELIEF WERE THE VERY ATTRIBUTES WHICH WOULD, ONE DAY, FORGE A LEGACY THAT IS RENOWNED ACROSS THE GLOBE.

AT JUST 20 YEARS OF AGE, THOMAS HARDY WAS ALREADY A MAN OF VISION AND DETERMINATION, NOT TO MENTION A CERTAIN DEGREE OF GOOD LUCK. HE HAD A KNACK FOR SEEING AN OPPORTUNITY WHEN IT PRESENTED ITSELF – AND THEN SEIZING IT.

HE WAS ALSO BLESSED WITH A GENEROSITY OF CHARACTER TO WHICH OTHERS FREQUENTLY GRAVITATED AND TRUSTED. THOMAS WAS A TRUE SON OF THE COLONY – INTREPID, ENTREPRENEURIAL, HARD-WORKING AND COMMUNITY MINDED. AND THE LEGACY HE LEFT HAS BEEN HANDED DOWN THROUGH THE GENERATIONS AND SPREAD ACROSS ALL CORNERS OF THE EARTH. EVERY BOTTLE OF HARDYS WINE CARRIES WITH IT SOME OF THAT LEGACY… AND IT ALL BEGAN RIGHT HERE.

Thomas Hardy and his wife Johanna The British Empire, aboard which Thomas Hardy and his future wife, Johanna, sailed from Devon, England to Port Adelaide, Australia in 1850

PORT ADELAIDE

On Sunday, 18th of August 1850, the threemasted British Empire reached the fledgling port of Adelaide after 4 months at sea. It must have been a pleasant day, for Thomas Hardy notes in his journal, “went ashore in the afternoon in my shirt sleeves. Drank some ale first.”

In those days Port Adelaide was still a fairly rough and tumble outpost, and with its many sailors, dockworkers, travellers and new immigrants passing through, drinking houses and inns were not in short supply. Many still exist today, dotted around one of Adelaide’s most historic suburbs.

There is little doubt that the young Hardy would have ventured into a few, but he would not have known then, that one day, those very taverns and pubs would be selling the award-winning wines that proudly carried his name.

CHATEAU REYNELLA

Whilst the grand and imposing brick and sandstone buildings of Chateau Reynella are home to Australia’s oldest operating wine cellar, the Hardy involvement extends back less than 30 years.

John Reynell was Thomas Hardy’s first employer in the new colony, however the adventurous, entrepreneurial Thomas spent only a few months with Reynell – but it is highly likely that the success of the

Above: The expanded Bankside cellars, 1874

Reynell vineyards, even in those early days, provided much of the inspiration for what would become Thomas’ destiny.

BANKSIDE

After his early days as a cattlehand and vineyard worker for John Reynell in the hills south of Adelaide, and then as a butcher feeding the hungry miners in the goldfields of Ballarat, Thomas eventually returned to the city which greeted him in 1850. In fact it is likely his first trip from the port to the city passed near the very spot where, four years later, he would plant his first vines and thus set the foundations for the Hardys wine success.

In 1853, Thomas Hardy purchased a small parcel of fertile land on the banks of the River Torrens at what is now known as Underdale. Within a few years, Thomas Hardy had established one of the most remarkable horticultural endeavours in the colony. Where once there had been thick stands of bushland, Thomas established a thriving and highly innovative enterprise.

As if predicting where his achievements would lie and his name would be made, his first plantings included rows of Shiraz and Frontignac grapes for winemaking and Muscats for drying. Also amongst his early varieties were Mataro, Grenache and Roussillon. He experimented with different types of trellising and pruning to maximise yield and make the most of the abundant sunlight.

Within 10 years, Hardy had become renowned for his innovation and his esteem as a winemaker had reached the Old World.

After 25 years of successful winemaking, the Hardy enterprise had outgrown Bankside and in 1881, Thomas Hardy moved much of the administration to new premises in the city.

Tragically however, in 1904 a devastating fire tore through the cellars, the homestead was saved however much of Bankside was left in ruins.

The Hardy family continued to live in the homestead until 1927, however nowadays, except for a major road bearing the family name, there is very little evidence of the Hardys Wines birthplace on the banks of the River Torrens.

Pen sketch of Tintara cellars by Fred Stoward Jnr. from discussions with Jack Stoward in 1952

UPPER TINTARA

In 1861, inspired by a flourishing vineyard to the north of McLaren Vale, Scottish migrant, Dr Alexander Kelly joined with some of the colony’s most eminent businessmen to purchase a 700 acre (280 ha) tract of land in the region. The Aboriginal name ‘Tintinara’ was suggested but then shortened to ‘Tintara’.

Built partly underground, the cellars were finished in 1863, and these buildings became the centre of Tintara’s winemaking operations, together with a small cooperage and storage rooms.

Dr Kelly’s dream of becoming a successful wine entrepreneur was never realised and in 1873, the entire Tintara Vineyard Company was put on the market.

Enter Thomas Hardy. Having heard about the demise of Tintara, he headed to the McLaren Vale to inspect the property on offer. After thoroughly inspecting every aspect of the operation, he could see the potential success of the venture where others couldn’t. He also saw cellars full of wine.

Thomas promptly purchased the winery and proceeded to then sell off the entire stock of Tintara wine. The profits from the sales actually exceeded the purchase price of the property!

Within months, Thomas was making plans for new vines – planting varieties that were superior in both quality and yield. He also set about building workers’ accommodation, expanding the cellars and installing grape presses and extra tanks.

Since the winery was built on a hill, the entire flow of juice, from crushing to fermenting and run-off, simply relied on gravity. Using a series of horse-powered ‘elevators’, trolleys, chutes, miniature ‘rail-carts’ and press tanks, the movement of grapes, juice and waste was virtually automated - an amazing achievement for the time.

Today, the old cellars are merely a shell of their former self. The iron roof was removed and reused acquired at the mill cellars due to the shortage of iron after WWII, and the elements wasted no time in eroding much of the stonework and rotting the timbers.

NOTTAGE HILL

Hugging the slopes behind the old Upper Tintara winery, sits one of Australia’s oldest and most recognised Shiraz vineyards – Nottage Hill.

For more than 130 years, the name Nottage has been a treasured part of the Hardys’ history.

Named in honour of Thomas Hardy Nottage, (a nephew of Thomas Hardy himself) who, in 1884 as a 15- year old lad began what would be a lifelong attachment

to Tintara. After 66 years of devoted service, Thomas retired as the manager of the Tintara vineyards but left an enduring legacy that is honoured by the vineyard that bears his name.

However, the Nottage connection certainly did not end with Thomas’ retirement. Four generations of the Nottage family have been involved with Hardys and were just as much a part of the fabric of the winery as the Hardy family itself.

THE MILL CELLARS

Thomas Hardy realised early on that the (Upper) Tintara winery was difficult to access, especially if he was to continue his highly successful blending techniques, which would require growers to negotiate difficult terrain with fragile fruit. Instead, he took the winemaking operations to them.

After searching the region for a suitable location, he chanced upon the disused Mortlock Flour Mill in the almost deserted town of Bellevue. It was only a few kilometres from Tintara, but infinitely more accessible.

He set about converting the mill into a modern winery, constructing ancillary cellars and storage areas.

To further enhance the new winery (by then known as the Mill Cellars) he ignored the rumours of hauntings and bought the Bellevue Hotel, converting it into tea-rooms and a shop front for his produce, as well as his headquarters when ‘commuting’ between Bankside in the city and Tintara at Mclaren Vale.

CURRIE STREET

With the purchase of the Tintara Vineyard Company in the McLaren Vale, and Thomas Hardy’s reputation (at home and abroad) for exceptional winemaking and blending, Thomas’s business needed new and larger premises. So in 1881, he proceeded to build substantial new headquarters, cellars and a bottling and distribution facility at 87 Currie Street in the heart of the city. This new building was named ‘Tintara House’.

The recently restored Mill Cellars, adjacent to the Mill Cellars Tasting Room where Hardys wines are tasted and classified.

Original Tintara House, Currie Street, 1883

TINTARA HOUSE, MILE END

In 1893, Thomas Hardy watched as his extensive new cellars at Mile End were finally completed. The imposing two-storey brick and bluestone building had a frontage that spanned almost 60 metres and included subterranean cellars, winemaking facilities, bottling hall, distribution centre, offices and a landmark tower which contained Hardy’s prized blending tanks. Eventually the sparkling wine cellars would also be moved from Currie Street to Mile End.

It was here that Thomas Hardy refined the art of blending for which he would become legendary, sourcing his grapes from the company’s own extensive regional vineyards as well as from specially selected vineyards of other growers. The new Tintara House at Mile End became a focal point for an industry that was quickly putting South Australia on the global winemaking map.

Sure enough, over time, the Tintara House and cellars needed to expand, and for more than 80 years, Mile End saw healthy growth with new offices and warehouses joining a modern bottling hall and research laboratories as Thomas Hardy & Sons Pty Ltd grew and evolved into one of Australia’s most popular and iconic wine brands.

Success and popularity always come with a certain amount of burden and with all the operations having moved from Currie Street and most of the winemaking, blending, bottling and distribution emanating out of Mile End, the inevitable was eventually realised. Even the vast capacity of Tintara House at Mile End could not keep up with the demand for Hardys wines domestically and abroad.

In 1982, with great reluctance (afterall, Tintara House was the last of the Hardy properties built by Thomas) the company decided to sell Tintara House at Mile End and move the entire operation to the newly

purchased Chateau Reynella – which, in a curious turn of fate, stands upon the very land that Thomas Hardy worked in the very first days of his new life in the colony of South Australia, more than 150 years ago, and is the site of some of the first commercial vines to be planted in South Australia. So, even though it was a difficult decision for the family to make, in a way it was almost as if the company was returning to its roots once more.

HARDYS TINTARA

By 1927 the activity around Mill Cellars had grown to such an extent that it had overshadowed the original Tintara winery. With better cellars and some of the most advanced winemaking facilities of the time, the decision was made to move most of the operations to the Mill Cellars property and rename the estate Hardys Tintara.

From the open fermenting tanks and basket presses of the Hardys Tintara winery, a new wine region began to emerge – one that would eventually be revered the world over. One known today as McLaren Vale.

And now, more than 130 years later Hardys Tintara remains one of the most technologically advanced wineries in the region, and is home to the largest premium red wine open fermentation facility in Australia.

Yet, to this day, much of the original Mill Cellars and the remnants of the old Bellevue village remain and despite all the innovations and progress, you’ll still find wines being made using much of the equipment Thomas Hardy installed over a century ago – serving as a genuine and functioning reminder of the ingenuity, enterprise and pioneering spirit of one of Australia’s winemaking legends.

Hardys has picked up over 9,000 awards and continues to deliver quality recognised across the globe.

HARDYS UNVEILS BOLD NEW LOOK

This April, Hardys will unveil a packaging update which will be rolled out across the range including consumer favourites Hardys VR, Hardys Stamp and Hardys Tintara. The design will premiumise and unify the portfolio with strong and consistent visibility for the Hardys logo and crest on every bottle in the portfolio featuring the brand’s distinctive black and gold colourways.