Owner Winemaker

Richard Hamilton Paul Gordon

Background

Proud owners Richard and Jette Hamilton are deeply committed to their family owned wine business. Their passion for quality is reflected in all aspects of the business, especially the vineyards and wines on which their reputation is built.

A fifth generation winemaker, Richard is the great, great grandson of English settler Richard Hamilton, who brought grapevines to the new colony of South Australia in 1837. Establishing their first vineyards at Marion the Hamilton family were pioneers of the Australian wine industry, and have continuously owned and operated vineyards and wineries in South Australia for 166 years to follow.

Richard’s interest in all aspects of the wine industry started at an early age when he worked in the family’s Sturt River vineyards and winery. Over the years this interest became a passion and in his early twenties Richard decided to realize his dream of establishing a winery, doing so in the foothills of Willunga at McLaren Vale.

The Company - The Hamilton Wine Group

With a strong heritage and long family history in grape-growing and winemaking Richard and Jette established the family business in 1972. In that year they built a small winery in McLaren Vale and with grapes from his and his father’s (Burton Hamilton 1904-1994) vineyards, produced the first of the Richard Hamilton wines.

In 1981 Richard and Jette purchased the Leconfield winery and vineyards in Coonawarra that had been established by Richard’s uncle, Sydney Hamilton in 1974. The purchase of Leconfield complemented the McLaren Vale operations and enabled the business access to high quality fruit from two of the premium wine growing regions of Australia.

The Winemakers - Paul Gordon & Tim Bailey

In December 2001, Paul Gordon joined the Hamilton Wine Group as Senior Winemaker. With over twenty-three year’s winemaking experience and an enviable reputation, Paul has a long list of achievements, including the 1994 Jimmy Watson Trophy. Paul plays a key role in the future direction and development of the wines bearing the Richard Hamilton and Leconfield labels.

The success of one of his first wines, the 2002 Leconfield Coonawarra ‘Old Vines Riesling’, winning trophies at both the Adelaide and Limestone Coast Wine Shows and Gold Medals in Canberra, Adelaide and Coonawarra is a testimony to his wine-making skills and passion for his craft.

Assistant Winemaker, Tim Bailey, has been with the company since 1997 and has just returned from doing vintage at Pellegrini Vineyards in California. Tim contributes youthful enthusiasm, innovation and a discriminating palate to the winemaking team; combined with Paul’s experience, skill and maturity they make a formidable combination.

The Vines and the Wines

Wine quality starts in the vineyard and this has been the driving force behind vineyard developments by Dr Richard Hamilton and his family over five generations. The result is a collection of vineyards that represent some of the best old vine material in the country, the oldest dating back to 1892.

Grapes are sourced from our McLaren Vale and Coonawarra vineyards with our winemakers being intimately involved in every stage of vineyard production and fruit development. Final selection involves only the highest quality fruit being used for our Hamilton and Leconfield labels.

Site selection is critical, with soil types and microclimates matched with particular varieties in order to produce the best possible results. Individual blocks of dry-grown hand tended vines form the basis of the Richard Hamilton Reserve series, whilst the Richard Hamilton Estate range utilizes source material from four sites in southern McLaren Vale. These wines best demonstrate the long-term commitment to quality by the Hamilton family and represent some of the best old vine material in the country.

The fruit from McLaren Vale is complemented and matched in quality by grapes from our premium vineyards planted in the world-famous “Terra Rosa” soils of Coonawarra - Australia’s premier Cabernet Sauvignon producing region.