Function Report - Angove’s/Penny’s Hill at Nero's

8th April 2003

41 members and guests gathered on Tuesday 8 April 2003 at Nero’s Restaurant in Mitcham where Jim Kelly from Angove’s Wines gave us a quick history of Angove’s and introduced us to the Penny’s Hill range of wines. Angove’s took over as the exclusive Australian distributor of Penny’s Hill ‘Red Dot’ Wines on 1 April 2003.

The Angove family company, Angove's Pty. Ltd., ranks among Australia's largest privately owned wine companies and stands as one of the few with strong interests in distilling as well as grape growing and winemaking. Dr. William Angove, an accomplished general practitioner and surgeon, with his wife and young family, emigrated from Cornwall in 1886 to establish a medical practice in South Australia.

His early experimentation with vines, winemaking and distilling, led to the establishment of a proud family business. Dr. Angove's initial plantings at the township of Tea Tree Gully in the Adelaide foothills were the forerunner of one of the largest vineyards in the southern hemisphere - the magnificent Nanya Vineyard at Renmark in South Australia's Riverland.

Early vintages of wine, a burgundy style dry red, from the original Tea Tree Gully vineyard proved to be popular with the local community. Steady expansion of the vineyard and the building of a winery and cellars of local stone meant that, by the turn of the century, production reached 300 tonnes of grapes from some 50 acres of land under vines.
During that period the accent on red wine was gradually supplemented by the production of dry white wines as well as fortified wines in the sherry and port styles. Stills and a large Cornish steam boiler were installed for the production of fortifying spirit. Dr. Angove's eldest son, who had completed studies in Oenology at Roseworthy College, branched out from the family home in Tea Tree Gully and set up a distillery and processing house at Renmark in 1910.

Despite the disruptions of two wars, growth of the Renmark operation progressed. As well as developing a fine reputation for table and fortified wines, Angove's had won wide respect for the ability to distil high quality brandy. The renowned 'St. Agnes' had become a hallmark for quality brandy in Australia and a number of export markets.
Since World War II, the company has steadily expanded its operations and structure. The Renmark facility has grown to become a major winemaking and distilling enterprise, with storage capacity for more than 15 million litres of wine and spirit. In 1947, Thomas William Carlyon Angove, grandson of the founder, took the helm as Managing Director, beginning a new era in development

Progressively, equipment, crushing facilities, modern winemaking plant and cooling systems have been renewed and added, enabling the company to develop and test new methods in premium red and white table wine production. In 1983, the fourth generation of the family took control, when John Carlyon Angove succeeded his father as Managing Director of the company.

Penny’s Hill Wines

Tony and Suzie Parkinson purchased 45 acres for a vineyard on the foothills east of McLaren Vale in 1988. The soil there is shallow and infertile, producing low vigour, low yields and highly concentrated fruit from the vines.

Vines were planted from 1991 to 1996. The vines are planted in rows of only 2.2 metres at a high density to encourage low yield per vine and high quality. Grape varieties planted include Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Grenache and Shiraz.

Two additional vineyards in the McLaren Vale area were purchased between 1993 and 1996. The soil at the new vineyards is more fertile than the Penny’s Hill vineyards and has higher vigour. Varieties planted in the newer vineyards include Semillon, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

The vines are hand pruned, and the use of fertilizers is limited. The aim at Penny’s Hill is to isolate parcels of fruit from within each vineyard block and site that show distinctive characteristics. They pick, ferment and mature these parcels separately to provide a range of components at blending time.

Currently, Penny’s Hill has approximately 108 acres under vines and produces approximately 90 tonnes of fruit (6300 cases). This is a significant increase on the first vintage in 1995 of 141 cases. The fruit that is not used in the ‘Red Dot’ range is sold to other wine companies.

The principal wine varieties produced by Penny’s Hill include Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Grenache, Chardonnay and Semillon.

The Dinner Wines

We commenced the evening with an Angove’s Regent Brut NV, followed by an Angove’s Clare Valley Riesling 2002. We then tasted the first of the Penny’s Hill wines, a McLaren Vale Chardonnay, 2001. We were then treated to two red wines, Penny’s Hill “Specialized” Shiraz Cabernet Merlot 2001 and Penny’s Hill McLaren Vale Shiraz 2000. The meal was completed with a Penny’s Hill McLaren “Vintage” Fortified Shiraz 2001. This was a “port” style fortified wine that was great to finish off the meal.

Jim Kelly also threw in a special for the night for members to purchase, Angove’s Camborne Shiraz Cabernet 2001. Camborne was the birthplace of William Thomas Angove who founded the company in the late 19th century.

This was another night that was a success for the guild. The food was great, the wines combined beautifully with the food and all enjoyed the combination. The only criticism was that the acoustics of the venue were a bit harsh, and it was sometimes difficult to carry on a conversation without noise bouncing off the wooden floor.

Our thanks go to Jim Kelly of Angove’s Winemakers and Distillers, and to the management and staff of Nero’s Restaurant in Mitcham. Our next function is a dinner at the Bruce County Motel hosted by Bill Aquilino of National Liquor.

I am indebted to Jim Kelly for allowing me to quote extensively from the Angove’s history contained in the web site, www.angoves.com.au. You may wish to check out the site for a more detailed insight into the company’s history and products.