About
First planted in 1971 among the elevated hills of Clarendon, Hickinbotham Vineyard is one of McLaren Vale’s most distinctive vineyard sites. Long before wines were bottled under its own label, fruit from this land found its way into some of Australia’s most celebrated wines, quietly establishing the vineyard as a part of the country’s winemaking heritage.
Spanning 164-hectares, with 38 hectares under vine, the estate rises to 315 meters above the valley floor across rolling hillsides of diverse soils, aspects, and elevations. First planted to dry-farmed Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz by Alan David Hickinbotham, son of Australia’s first wine science lecturer at Roseworthy Agricultural College, Alan Robb Hickinbotham, the vineyard remained under family ownership for more than four decades before its acquisition by the Jackson Family in 2012.
That same year marked the inaugural Hickinbotham vintage, transforming a site long respected for its fruit into an estate winery. In 2019, the vineyard transitioned to organic and biodynamic farming, continuing a commitment to preserving the integrity of this historic site.
The character of Hickinbotham Vineyard is profound, producing famously resilient wines with depth, expression, and tension. Cooling breezes funnel through the hills above and the coast below, lend the wines their freshness. The breathtaking views from the site’s peak sweep over the vines towards the Onkaparinga Gorge, commanding ancient ground that is the source of the innate power this site produces.
Today, under the direction of Winemaker Christoper Carpenter and Vineyard Manager Cliff Wickman, Hickinbotham Vineyard continues its legacy as one of Australia’s great vineyard sites, dedicated to expressing the character of Clarendon through Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and other keystone Bordeaux and Rhone varieties.
