Story
Honour and a handshake
words Heidi HELBIG
PHOTOGRAPHY pete thornton
Deep within the Torbreck cellar in Marananga’s hillside, you’ll find a tapestry as rich as the Western Ridge soils surrounding it.
The names on the 4,500 litre oak barrels arranged in symmetrical rows roll off the tongue of chief winemaker Ian Hongell with a comfortable familiarity.
“Materne Mataro, Neldner Grenache, Helbig Shiraz, Limb – he’s no longer with us, but we keep the name,” recites Ian, whose Hongell Grenache is nestled among the barrels, or foudres.
A veritable who’s who of Western Ridge growers, the contents inside will soon be unveiled in what has become an annual Torbreck ritual.
“Most vineyards are five acres which gives us seven tonnes, which fits our fermenter and fills each one of these,” explains Ian.
“Each foudre represents a grower and later in the year we’ll line up their wines and do a tasting with the families.”
It’s one of many traditions at a winery that, while comparatively young, has an old-school honour code between grower and winery – much like that of the late Peter Lehmann, to whom Ian was once apprenticed.
Famously, Lehmann’s handshake was his word, something that still resonates with Ian.
“There were no contracts in the whole time I worked at Lehmanns,” says Ian. “Ultimately, not having a contract means you have to do the right thing by the grower and the grower has to do the right thing by you, and everyone stays on their toes, in a good way.
“It’s reciprocal – you can’t have one without the other.”
That sense of reciprocity is strongly embedded in the Torbreck culture, from the vineyard to the lab and cellar door.
“I feel committed to ensuring we can bring everyone along with us,” says Ian. “It’s important to me that our success flows through to everyone connected to us….It builds trust, loyalty and confidence.
“It’s heartfelt and it’s true, and it’s what I believe in, very much.”
“There’s feel in that, and experience, and a bit of science, and then there’s guessing. I’m still always learning, because a vintage can turn everything on its head.”
- Ian Hongell
A Barossa childhood has very much come full circle for Ian, after an idyllic youth spent knocking about Saltram Wines where his dad worked.
“For me, that was a magical industrial playground. Just to be able to ride around the yard, climb the catwalks, look in the barrels – sometimes we’d go to work with Dad and just drive around with someone on the forklift until lunchtime,” recalls Ian.
High school gigs at local wineries led to vintages in the Barossa, Hunter and Napa Valley before Ian graduated oenology from Roseworthy College.
A vintage winemaking position at Penfolds preceded a stint at Griffith, which opened the door to overseas vintages in France and Germany.
But it was 18 years at Peter Lehmann Wines that gave Ian “some of the hardest times, some of the best times” and a true understanding of camaraderie.
“When I look back at Lehmanns, for me it was a formative period in my career,” says Ian.
“I was working with Andrew Wigan and the team; he was a really thoughtful man to work under, serious, but I respected that, and I have embraced many disciplines.”
Forty vintages later, Ian’s winemaking experience is unrivalled.
A Baron of Barossa, 2009 Len Evans Tutorial scholar and wine show judge, Ian continues to oversee varieties predominantly from Rhone origins, making wines of exceptional quality, concentration and power.
“There’s feel in that, and experience, and a bit of science, and then there’s guessing,” Ian says laughing. “I’m still always learning, because a vintage can turn everything on its head.”
He particularly enjoys the complexity and diversity that comes from five Torbreck estates and 32 growers’ vineyards, located at the extremities of the Valley floor. The lowest vineyard is located 160 metres above sea level, while the highest, at Eden Valley, is 450.
“The Shiraz vintage is eight weeks’ difference from the south to the north, which is incredible considering it’s only 23 kilometres,” says Ian.
His latest passion project with vineyard manager Nigel Blieschke is restoring Torbreck’s heritage estate vineyards near Lyndoch, home to some of the most beautiful landscapes and oldest soils in the Barossa.
The one-acre Hillside shiraz vineyard planted in the 1850s by the Springbett family is being painstakingly restored to health through a careful viticultural program using genetic material from the original vines.
“The Forebear Shiraz is a signature wine and complements our old vine passion that captures everything significant to our region – being from some of the oldest vines on a historical, unique site, all preserved through handmade traditions,” says Ian.
“It’s a slower way to grow grapes and make wine, and it’s all about preserving the DNA of these vineyards to make Torbreck.”
The 312-acre Hillside property – once home to the Lyndoch golf course and cricket club – also features the heritage-listed Springbett family homestead, original 1860s winery and an 1890s cellar that once housed the Lyndoch picture theatre.
These spaces have been thoughtfully restored, ensuring their legacy continues into the 21st century while celebrating Barossa heritage and winemaking.
“It’s quite emotional when it’s full of people,” says Ian. “Every time I stand here, if I had vision for this room, this would be it.”
At a time when the intersection between tradition and change has never been more important, Ian remains optimistic about the future of the Barossa wine industry, saying evolution is natural, and necessary.
“I think the Barossa wine story is always changing. Take Seppeltsfield, built in 1851; look at what they did then and what’s happening there now. It is, and always has been, a place of changing fortunes,” says Ian.
“What that tells me is that the region remains a place of incredible opportunity, and I don’t think that’s going to change.”
