Hardys Wines uncorks a consumer guarantee
Hardy Wines is making a bold statement with its latest vintage releases. Senior Winemaker Nic Bowen is so confident that buyers of these wines will be very pleased with their purchase that Hardys is offering a money-back guarantee across its entire bottled range (with a few exemptions) during October and November 2020.
The idea is to give wine drinkers the confidence to step out from their comfort zone and try a bottle of Hardys’ latest releases, and should they not like the wine, they can receive a refund.
At a recent virtual wine tasting, Nic discussed the latest releases of riesling, shiraz, grenache shiraz mataro and the winery’s exceptional latest vintage of the Eileen Hardy Shiraz 2016. He also asked those attending the tasting if anyone would ask for their money back. No takers.
"We’re proud of the wines we make. Blending is a core competence at Hardys – we have about 9,000 awards for the brand, and that’s climbing." – Nic Bowen
Alongside the money-back guarantee is a showcase of the company’s new packaging to better reflect a ‘family’ presentation of the range and its long heritage stretching back to 1853, when Thomas Hardy took on the challenge of making wines in Australia to sell to the world. He’d be surprised and delighted to learn that Hardys’ wines are now sold in more than 130 countries and have received thousands of local and international awards.
Hardys Wines latest releases
The Hardys HRB 2020 Riesling is a blend of Clare Valley and Tasmanian fruit, bringing the minerals and citrus freshness of the Clare Valley and the softer, fresh tropical flavours of Tasmanian grapes. Nic describes it as a well-balanced wine with "wet stone slate characters" from South Australia with the Germanic spice and tropical fruit characteristics of Tasmania. It will retail for around A$35.
The Hardys Tintara 2018 Grenache Shiraz Mataro is a vibrant mix of 45% grenache, 45% shiraz and 10% mataro grapes matured in large-format oak. It’s a medium-bodied, slightly dry red with quite forward fruit tones. "We allowed the fruit to speak, showing spice, berries, chocolate and liquorice notes," Nic explains.
It will retail for about A$25, and is a perfect accompaniment to summer afternoons entertaining family and friends around a barbecue.
The Hardys 2017 McLaren Vale Shiraz brings blended McLaren Vale Tintara vineyards fruit, squeezed in the winery’s 101-year-old basket presses and matured mostly in French oak. Nic points out that 2017 gave a slightly poorer yield so volumes are not as large as other vintages.
"This wine shows dark purple colours with berry and plum flavours, together with milk chocolate," Nic says. "It’s powerful and typical of McLaren Vale shiraz fruit characteristics."
This shiraz will cellar well for at least eight years, and retails for approximately A$25.
And the main event is the 2016 vintage of Hardys Eileen Hardy Shiraz. It’s an excellent vintage, Nic says, from a warm, quite dry season with "opportunistic rain that produced a lot of fantastic fruit". That fruit comes from two vineyards, one of which was bought by Thomas Hardy in 1876. It was matured in 33% new French oak barrels.
"The vintage shows rich plum fruit, with ironstone graphite minerality, with milk chocolate tones. It is a powerful wine. This is a really cracking vintage – one of the best in the past 20 years," Nic shares.
This is a magnificent shiraz, with deep purple colours and mulberry, dark plum and blueberry fruit characters. This is a powerful yet balanced wine that feels like crushed velvet in the mouth, with great length. It’s a very elegant wine – I feel like I should put on a tie and a smart jacket to drink it. And yes, it’s very moreish. This will drink very well with fine red meat dishes or quality blue or hard cheeses.
Hardys suggests it will cellar well for at least 15 years, and retails at about A$150.
And what’s more, it is covered by Hardys’ money-back guarantee until the end of November. If you think you should have your hard-earned cash refunded on this wine, you are impossible to please. A magnificent shiraz.
"We’re proud of the wines we make. Blending is a core competence at Hardys – we have about 9,000 awards for the brand, and that’s climbing," Nic says.