Hayes Family Wines Fromm Vineyard Semillon 2021 75cl

Tasting Note

Fun and funky - a strange but wonderful chinese spice comes through first - really aromatic and interesting, and then some vegetal notes before the gentle citrus and orchard fruits come through. A lovely, light white wine with great balance and a crisp finish. Only 2000 bottles produced.

Producer

Hayes Family Wines is a small-scale, family owned and run producer in Stone Well in the heart of Barossa. In the greater scheme of the region, it is a start-up business, having only been established as recently as 2014.

The man behind the name is Brett Hayes. Born in Brisbane, Queensland (not a State known for the quality of its vineyards), Brett had been visiting the Barossa for 35 years, before relocating here with his wife, Kylie and two children: Sam and Alice. Their family home is on the property of one of their grape suppliers, the famous Schulz Primrose vineyard in the sub-region of Ebenezer at the northern end of the Barossa.

Clearly, being born in Queensland, Brett was never destined for a career in wine. After completing a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in the early 1990s, he became a business partner in a major consulting firm, operating businesses throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

His regular visits to Barossa, however, saw him develop a long-term friendship with Andrew Seppelt, whose family is wine royalty in the parts. Not only has Andrew been making wines in the region since 1995 (notably as GM and winemaker for Torbreck Vineyards), he also helped introduce Brett to owners of some of the Barossa’s oldest vines.

Along with Amanda Mader who loves after the Estate vineyards, Brett and Andrew manage both the winemaking and the commercial aspects of Hayes Family Wines.

The cellar and Estate owned (organically and sustainably certified) vineyards are in Stone Well, a sector of Barossa on the east side of the North Para River, between the towns of Tanunda and Nuriootpa. According to Brett, the property has exchanged hands some 18 times since the 1860s.

The winery is something of a makeshift operation, set up for micro-vinification, with grapes sourced from multi-generational vineyards. The couple, who together best resemble members of classic 1970s rock trio, ZZ Top, are clearly either mad or must really love what they are doing. In the 2021 harvest alone, they vinified a total of fifty different cuvées in their tiny little cellar. On average, the pair crush around 50 tonnes of grapes during the season.

_{Country: Australia | Region: Barossa Valley | Alcohol: 12% | Grapes: Semillon | Organic}