Historical Notes - Short Version

RICHARD HAMILTON

LECONFIELD WINES

175THANNIVERSARY

HISTORICAL NOTES - SHORT VERSION

The vineyard in front of the Leconfield cellar door in McLaren Vale - planted in 1997 - was in fact planned by the architect who designed the cellar door. Richard bought the land on the corner of Johnston and Main Road because he wanted a site in McLaren Vale in addition to his Main Road site in Willunga. The Johnston Road/Main Road property also had one of McLaren Vale’s earliest dwellings on it – a house built by Edwin Colton in 1853. However, Richard’s first foray into the wine industry was in 1972, when he had just finished the first stage of his medical studies and was completingstudies to be a surgeon.

This move to the wine industry should come as no surprise to those who know the Hamilton family.

• On October 17th, 1837, Richard’s great, great, great grandfather, also named Richard, arrived in South Australia from England. He was a tailor but also had an interest in wine.
• One of Richard’s sons, John, worked with Colonel William Light’s survey team and he told his father about land on the banks of the Sturt River at Marion. He thought that the land would make a good buy and his father purchased the land in 1839, planted vines and built a winery. The venturewas called Hamilton Ewell Wines.
• Though Richard also owned land on Long Island in New York State, he chose to remain in South Australia.
• On his death, the wine business was left to another son, Frank, the son considered the most capable of running the business.
• However, Frank died prematurely and the wine business was taken over by his son, Sydney. Frank had three other sons – Eric, Burton and Ian and the current Richard Hamilton is the son of Burton.
• It was Sydney who, as winemaker at Hamilton Ewell Wines, introduced the use of refrigeration for delicate wines such as Riesling and Moselle.
• The current Richard’s father, Burton, had acquired vineyards in McLaren Vale. His first vineyard was the Hut Block on McMurtrie Road, which he bought in 1947 – the same year that Richard was born. Burton was passionate about the quality of the fruit from McLaren Vale, making his first Cabernet Sauvignon from the Hut Block in 1958.
• In the meantime, Sydney Hamilton had always wanted to make his own Cabernet Sauvignon and so he sold his shares in the Hamilton Ewell enterprise and in 1974 purchased land in the Coonawarra and at the age of seventy-six and proceeded to build the Leconfield Winery.
• Nephew Richard bought the Leconfield Winery from Sydney in 1981, bringing the two strands of the family wine businesses together – Richard Hamilton Wines and Leconfield Wines.
• Richard’s inspiration and subsequent journey in the wine industry had been sparked by Max Lake’s book, ‘Classic Wines of Australia’.
• He bought two acres in Willunga from his father, Burton, with the ambition of making quality red and white wine.
• His uncle Sydney supported Richard’s dream and designed a model winery for the venture. He even built some of the equipment himself, including a grape crusher.
• It is this long family connection that also produced the signature red roses planted around both Richard Hamilton and Leconfield Wines vineyards. Sydney was an avid lover of roses.
• The family tradition is also reflected in the key labels of some of the company’s wines – Burton, Hut Block and Lot 148.

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