Stonehaven wine brand makes a comeback

The Stonehaven wine label is back in business.

Once one of Australia’s high-profile labels, the wine brand has largely lain dormant since the sale of Hardy’s to Constellation Wines two decades ago.

Now CW Wines, a South Australian family-owned company, have acquired the Stonehaven winery and re-launched the Stonehaven brand.

CW Wines says its mission is to champion the Limestone Coast as a premium wine region and bring the Stonehaven name back into the spotlight.

The Stonehaven winery in Padthaway was built by Hardy’s in 1998 but after Hardy’s was sold to American liquor Constellation in 2003 - and sales were close to a quarter of a million cases a year - wine releases ceased.

CW Wines, a South Australian family-owned business, bought both the Stonehaven winery and brand in 2021 and has access to 800 acres of estate vineyards producing cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, malbec, pinot gris and chardonnay as well as some more recent plantings of Nero d’Avola, montepulciano and mencia.

CW Wines also owns Schild Estate, Reschke and Ulithorne, among other South Australian brands.

Stonehaven winemaker Ben Wurst has spent 20 years working in the Limestone Coast region.

“People often think of the Limestone Coast as producing full-bodied cabernets and little else," Wurst says. "In actuality the diversity of the region means we can grow a huge variety of grapes that really respond to the nuances of each area without being pigeonholed into any one particular style of wine.

“In the winery that means we’re getting really premium fruit that truly reflects the terroir. It’s my job then to maintain those characters in the wines we produce. When we get that right we can really start to show people what the region is capable of.”

For more details see www.stonehavenwines.com.au