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| Tête à Tête with Bill Hardy |
| By Ravi Joshi |
| Family owned wine businesses embody the very passion that brought their wines into existence. This passion is often inherited and is centuries old when terms like global warming were unknown and organic farming practices were the rule rather than the exception. I could sense this passion as I met William (Bill) Hardy, the fifth generation of this wine family, for a private interaction as he led a packed schedule in India to present the collection that bears his name "William Hardy Collection" to Indian wine lovers. |
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Bill and Ravi |
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| Thomas Hardy founded Hardys Wines when he bottled his first vintage in 1857. Today, Hardys is Australia’s biggest wine producer and seventh most powerful wine brand in the world according to "The Power 100 Report 2015" by Intangible Business. Hardys wines are widely accepted as easy drinking and affordable but some premium cuvées are found in the range. Hardys has a tradition of dedicating labels to their places of plantation and the generational torchbearers – the various collections are Chateau Reynella, Oomoo and Tintara that are named after their historic vineyards. And there are Eileen Hardy, Nottage Hill, Sir James, Thomas Hardy, and now the William Hardy range to honour the contribution of the various generations. |
| I understood the winemaking philosophy at Hardys as focussed on blending different terroirs, and I opened the volley to ask if terroir took a back seat in the Hardys scheme of things. Bill did not agree entirely. Their easy drinking wines may be inclined towards blending for consistency, but wines like the Heritage Reserve Bin range bring out respective regions quite emphatically – when the renowned Australian wine writer and critic James Halliday first tasted these wines he said, "I can see the exact terroirs associated with this wine!" Bill believes that blending is one of the greatest skills a winemaker can have. He thinks of himself as a champion of blending and he also recalls Hugh Johnson’s quote "Dom Perignon was the first deliberate blender. Also, the first perfectionist". |
| How do they differentiate similar varietal blends across their very large range of wines? Bill says that the effort to educate the consumer on this aspect has been their priority. He takes pride in having elaborated these differences through his personal writings on the philosophy, style and characteristics of each wine. He loves to present his wines to people, highlighting the USPs of each range. At the daily drinking segment of the wine consumers, it sometimes boils down to an understanding of why they should be paying more for a particular label vis-à-vis a lower priced one. |
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Presenting the Hardys collection |
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| I had a specific query about the difference between the Eileen Hardy Shiraz and the now introduced William Hardy Shiraz, Bill shares with me that both these wines are single varietal, single region wines. The Eileen Hardy range (named after his grandmother) is an example of the very best of wines Hardys make, while the range that carries his name – the William Hardy range – is more commercial.
The Eileen Hardy Shiraz is produced from 2-3 selected vineyards in McLaren Vale, while the William Hardy Shiraz currently comes from vineyards in Langhorne Creek with a plan to shift the sourcing to McLaren Vale as well. In terms of ageing potential, the Eileen Hardy Shiraz comes from vines upto 110 years old and has an ageing potential between 12-15 years, whereas the William Hardy Shiraz has a lower ageing potential of upto 5-7 years. From this, I deduced that while Eileen Hardy is in the prestige range, William Hardy is growing to be one!
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| The reference to the mega brand from competition could not be avoided. How has the Hardys marketing plan in India been affected by the ubiquitous "Jacob's Creek" or JC? Bill felt that Pernod Ricard has managed their marketing well through well placed sports sponsorships and leveraging their powerful spirits portfolio for wine promotion. He shared with me that the Hardys focus is on spending their dollars on opening and sharing bottles rather than any form of advertising (darn, that's not good news for vino india). Bill candidly admits that in the past they have faltered on sponsorships and endorsements by spreading themselves too thin. However, they have now corrected course and the more focussed approach is already showing results. A good example is the recent launch of the Art of Cricket collection with Glenn McGrath as the brand ambassador, which has magnified awareness of their brand in India.
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| For the market for wine in India, I asked Bill if he saw as a threat the proposed Free Trade Agreement between India and the European Union that was likely to soften trade barriers on wine from these territories. As Australia is the biggest volume exporter of wine to India, Bill agrees that this agreement would present serious competition. But he also believes that it is unlikely that such a selective policy for special trading zones would be implemented by the Indian Government.
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| Time was of the essence and the premium, he was being reminded of his next appointments. Bill came across as a simple and affable person, and I closed with a non-wine query "Are you visiting the Taj Mahal?" Bill replies in the affirmative. And with his lady accompanying him on this trip, there was a slim chance that he wouldn’t.
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| Ravi Joshi met Bill Hardy during his recent visit to India. Please share any feedback with vino india info@vinoindia.in |
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