Showcasing South Australia

Andrew Hardy is one of Australia’s most respected and influential wine industry leaders. A fifth generation winemaker, he is the great-great grandson of Thomas Hardy, the ‘Father of the South Australian Wine Industry’.

Andrew has 36 years’ experience making wine in the Adelaide Hills, Clare Valley, Coonawarra and McLaren Vale working chiefly at Petaluma. He has also made wine in California, Oregon and Bordeaux and is a Trustee of the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society of South Australia. Whilst at Knappstein in Clare, Andrew was awarded the Warren Winiarski Trophy for 'Best Cabernet in the World' and the Trophy for 'Best Australian Red Wine' for his Enterprise Cabernet. He was also pivotal in the industry's adoption of the screw cap closure.

This all started as a hobby around the turn of the century, with Andrew and his father Bob making tiny amounts of Shiraz from the old block for the family to drink. By 2008 he was making small amounts of 1891 Ancestor Vine Shiraz each vintage, which was ‘a bit like ripping up $100 bills in the shower’. He invested even further from 2014, making the Upper Tintara Vineyard Shiraz, from millennium plantings on the family vineyard. Today, this vertical line-up of Shiraz, that he has accumulated each year, is a stunning showcase of the quality of the Upper Tintara Vineyard, the precious nature of the 1891 Ancestor Vines and Andrew’s abundant winemaking talents.