Sometimes, you just achieve extraordinary – more than perfection as it is unique. This doesn’t come by chance, it comes by starting with great, applying experience and nurturing through to brilliance, maturing to exceptional. And finally, there it is “Centurion”! Richard Hamilton Centurion Shiraz represents the very best of Richard Hamilton Wines, the McLaren Vale wine region and Australian wine making.
“Centurion” the wine, takes its name from one of Australia’s and indeed the World’s oldest surviving vineyards, planted in 1892 by brothers Walter and Clement Philipson. Changing hands to Thomas Wigley in 1893, acquired by Burton Wyndham Hamilton in 1947 and passed to Dr Richard Hamilton.
Sited alongside a creek, gnarly Shiraz vines stretch out east-west across 19 rows. The orientation, together with shoot thinning and as the case with many vineyards preceding modern irrigation techniques, a combination of traditional vine management techniques (vertical shoot positioning lifting the top cordon and sprawling the bottom to a lazy ballerina skirt), opens the canopy, increasing fruit exposure to sunlight and providing greater canopy ventilation, to ultimately deliver even ripening across the vine. The combination of site and old vines, together with dry growing (in most vintages), produces lovely, elegant, yet concentrated fruit, showing signs of maturation straight from the vine.
| Vineyard | Centurion Old Vine Vineyard (Hut 08) |
| Planted | 1892 |
| Varietal | Shiraz |
| Subregion | McLaren Flat |
| Soil Composition | Grey sandy loam & old river clay with a deep bedding of limestone. |
| Altitude | 68m above Sea Level. |
| Canopy Management | Shoot thinning and a combination of traditional vine management techniques opens the canopy, increasing fruit exposure to sunlight and providing greater canopy ventilation, to deliver even ripening across the vine. |
| Vine Aspect | East / West orientation running parallel to the creek. |
| Irrigation | Sited alongside a creek, as the case with many vineyards preceding modern irrigation techniques. A drip-irrigation system has been installed but is rarely used, favouring dry growing conditions. |
| Fermentation | Ripening and yield varies from the east to west of the block and we typically harvest by hand on two to three occasions based on flavour intensity, the last harvest often being 2-3 weeks later than the east. Some whole bunches are included in the ferment while the remainder is destemmed. Fermentation in 2 tonne Taransaud open French oak vertical vats where we hand pumpover three times daily and use air sparging. The wine is pressed after about 10 days on skins. We inoculate with malo-lactic bacteria on skins and the secondary fermentation completes quickly after pressing. |
| Oak | Racked to French oak - 25% new and the balance to 1-3 year old oak, each harvest dates and fermentation techniques kept separate for continuing assessment. The first racking follows malo after which we make adjustments as required. Oak plays a complimentary role to the fruit. Bottling is after 15-18 months maturation. |
Dr Richard Hamilton.
Dr Richard Hamilton is the fifth generation of the Hamilton wine family. His namesake, Richard Hamilton, at the age of 45, emigrated to South Australia together with wife Ann and eight of their nine children, with a land order in hand, arrived on the ‘Katherine Stewart Forbes’ on the 17th of October 1837. The following year, Richard planted his first vines by the River Sturt.
By the late 1800’s, the McLaren Vale district was being planted with vines and in 1892, brothers Walter and Clement Philipson, planted a Shiraz vineyard to the south of the McLaren Vale township. This vineyard remains productive and is celebrated today as Richard Hamilton’s Centurion Vineyard – one of McLaren Vale’s Living Icons and one of Australia’s and indeed the world’s oldest surviving vineyards.
In 1947, Dr Richard Hamilton’s father, Burton, a passionate viticulturalist, purchased his first McLaren Vale vineyard and named it the ‘Hut Block’ after the pickers shed. This plot included the 1892 Centurion Shiraz vineyard. In 1972, Richard’s father, Burton gave him a couple of acres of McLaren Vale vineyard and encouraged him to purchase a further parcel of land. With the help of his uncle Sydney and father Burton, Richard has endeavoured to resurrect the Hamilton name, creating world-class wines under Richard Hamilton Wines at McLaren Vale and Leconfield in the Coonawarra, which Richard ultimately purchased from his Uncle Sydney.
