Biscay Wines

John and Carolyn Hongell, along with youngest son Trevor as vineyard manager and budding winemaker, have been producing small parcels of wine under the John Hongell label since 1998, the grapes sourced solely from the family-owned Biscay Vineyard. The vineyard was first planted in 1943 to grenache, with further plantings of shiraz in ?92, on clay soils in the southern Barossa Valley using single-wire trellis and minimal irrigation. Yields are kept low giving the resultant fruit intense colour and great varietal character. In his various previous lives, John was a brewer, production director for Dalgety Wines and then manager of Saltram. -JAMES HALLIDAY