Hesketh's alternative path

It’s 2005, and Jonathon and Trish Hesketh are at a fork in the road. With four kids who are only getting older, it's time to decide whether to commit to a life of corporate work in Auckland, or return home to Australia and start something of their own. 

As Robert Frost did in his century-old poem, The Road Not Taken, they chose the path less travelled, and moved the family back to Adelaide in 2006 to establish Hesketh Wines. 

The move wasn't quite as bold as it sounds. Jonathon is the son of the late Robert Hesketh, who was heavily involved and influential in South Australian wine during the 1970s and ’80s in particular, and was, among many other things, the inaugural chairman of what is now Wine Australia. On top of growing up in the industry, Jonathon also spent seven years working for Greg Trott at Wirra Wirra, and his corporate job in New Zealand was for beverage company Lion.

Still, while he wasn’t completely green, there was plenty of risk involved. “We started with virtually nothing,” says Jonathon. “We had no choice but to operate as a ‘negociant’, relying on a tight set of supportive growers to grow our fruit and friends with wineries to do the winemaking on our behalf.”

Three generations of Heskeths: Robert, Angus and Jonathon.

The goal was – and remains – to produce wines from regions where each variety is best suited. Initially, this included a grüner veltliner from Krems in Austria, and a sauvignon blanc from Marlborough, NZ, but over the past two decades their focus has tightened to South Australia, and in the face of climate change, to cooler subregions.

With Frost’s poem – the closing line in particular – now something of a family philosophy, Hesketh has spent the past few years experimenting with alternative varieties. While they currently account for only two out of the 20-odd wines Hesketh makes (including a couple of sparkling wines), results from the 2024 Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show, which it entered for the first time last year, point to a bright future for the brand in wines made from “less travelled” varieties. 

The two wines Hesketh entered in the show – the Clare Valley Fiano 2023, and the Woodside Gamay 2023 – were awarded gold medals, and the fiano won two trophies for Best White Wine and Best White Italian Variety Wine.
 
“We're committed to spotlighting alternative varieties that are well suited to our premium growing regions,” says Jonathon. “Fiano is incredibly versatile and is finding its feet in Clare, McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills.
 
“We're particularly bullish and excited by what gamay will become in the Hills,” he adds. “I can see it becoming the region's signature red.”
 
The label will also release its first pinot blanc in April – “another wonderful [alternative] variety which has great potential in the Hills,” says Jonathon.

For Hesketh, it seems that choosing the alternative path truly has made all the difference.  

For more information, head to heskethwinecompany.com.au. To shop the wines, head to 2023 Clare Valley Auburn Fiano and 2023 Woodside Gamay.