Hollick Estates is a privately owned boutique winery located on the famed terra rossa soils of Coonawarra, in the Limestone Coast wine zone of South Australia. Driven by quality and a hands-on approach, all Hollick wines are crafted from premium estate-grown fruit.
Coonawarra is renowned as one of Australia’s finest wine regions known for producing world class red wines. The rich red terra rossa soils over limestone, pure underground water and a long cool ripening season for the grapes produce wines of elegance and longevity.
Hollick wines are made from three core vineyards; “Neilson’s Block”, planted by Ian and Wendy Hollick in 1975, the nearby “Wilgha” vineyard purchased in 1987 and the “Red Ridge” vineyard in Wrattonbully developed in 1998. making up over 85 hectares of vineyard, much of it is dedicated to red varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Shiraz, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Barbera and Petit Verdot. The remaining vineyards are planted with the white varieties Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Savagnin.
History
In 1974 Ian Hollick purchased a piece of grazing land on the southern end of the Coonawarra district. This small block of land was one of the original allocations in the Coonawarra Fruit Colony which John Riddoch founded in 1890.
Ian and Wendy Hollick planted their first vines here in 1975; and from these seeds, one of Coonawarra’s iconic wine brands was born. Hollick wines launched onto the national and international wine scene by winning the 1985 Jimmy Watson Trophy at the Royal Melbourne Wine Show. Today, the name Hollick is synonymous with quality and consistency. The legacy of Ian Hollick as a viticultural pioneer in the region carries on with Hollick producing classic Coonawarra varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot, Riesling and Chardonnay. In recent years, Hollick has successfully added other varieties such as Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Pinot Noir and Barbera.
The original slab cottage located on Neilson’s Block was restored and opened as the Hollick Cellar Door. This heritage listed cottage has a rich history dating back to the 1860s as the reputed birthplace of famous lyric poet John Shaw Neilson. Cellar Door sales were carried out in the cottage until 2002 when a new cellar door and restaurant (Upstairs at Hollick) were built to fulfil the growing demand for a winery restaurant in Coonawarra. The integration of old and new has been outstandingly successful, making Hollick a ‘must visit’ in the Coonawarra.
Hollick wines are now widely distributed throughout Australia and exported to many countries around the globe.
Vineyards
We uphold the principle of ‘Pride of Place’. This is the pride and respect for the role played by the ‘place’ in which the Hollick vineyards are grown, the natural characteristics imparted by the vineyard situation, and the influences that our management practices make on the final product. Three premium vineyard sites give Hollick a diversity of some of the best fruit grown in the Coonawarra and Wrattonbully wine regions.
Coonawarra
Coonawarra’s terra rossa soil is some of the most famous soil in the world. Its dark red clay over limestone provides excellent drainage and the right balance of nutrients, making it the ideal medium for vine growth and producing quality fruit. The climate of Coonawarra is markedly influenced by proximity to the coast, often creating morning cloud cover providing a long and slow moderating effect on fruit development – allowing maximum flavour accumulation and development of fine tannins.
Wrattonbully
Situated north of Coonawarra and south of the Padthaway region, Wrattonbully lies in the gentle rolling landscape of the Naracoorte ranges. The climate is marginally warmer than Coonawarra, facilitating grapes to ripen a few weeks earlier. With similar soil profiles to Coonawarra, this temperate region is well suited to the production of premium wines.
