Hanging Rock

The Macedon area has proved marginal in spots, and the Hanging Rock vineyards, with their lovely vista towards the Rock, are no exception. John Ellis thus elected to source additional grapes from various parts of Victoria to produce an interesting and diverse range of varietals at different price points. In 2011 John's children Ruth and Robert returned to the fold: Robert has an oenology degree from Adelaide University, since then working as a Flying Winemaker in Champagne, Burgundy, Oregon and Stellenbosch. More recently he worked as winemaker at Hewitson, before coming back to Hanging Rock to take over winemaking responsibilities from father John. Ruth has a degree in wine marketing from Adelaide University. JAMES HALLIDAY


Quite a bit has changed at Handing Rock and we asked Ruth what has been the most significant changes: “since Rob and I took over in 2011, we’ve been working towards making a much tighter, more relevant and exciting list of wines. We’ve made a big cull, taking over 10 wines off the list that we felt didn’t have a purpose or a sense of identity of their own. As a general rule the list is a lot more Macedon Ranges and Heathcote focused, back to who we really are and what we do best…. In terms of styles, our old man was a pioneer of traditional method Australian sparkling wine and Heathcote Shiraz, that was over 30 years ago now, times have changed. These days our estate fruit is mostly used to make table wine rather than sparkling, the reason being 2 fold. On one hand the climate has warmed up significantly, through the 80’s and 90’s we wouldn’t have dreamt of producing table Chard and Pinot, we were just too cold, these days we’re ripening it easily year in, year out. The other change is Rob, having spent a couple of vintages at Domaine de Montille and Domaine Serine in Oregon, there no doubt that is where his passions lie.” It is clear the new generation is bringing this Macedon pioneer into the 21st century. PWS