Winemaker’s Midas touch
Everything McLaren Vale winemaker Renae Hirsch touches turns to gold – but it’s one red variety that has really caught her attention.
The sun has broken through a cloudy grey ceiling hanging low over the foothills of McLaren Vale, casting light onto a newly-minted cottage set staunchly on its own beside a heritage vineyard slope.
We are deep into the eastern gullies of the Blewitt Springs district that in the past decade has garnered international acclaim for its red wines – particularly, the hottest variety-of-the-moment, grenache.
This old house, sunlit and welcoming with its grand steps, statement stone frontage and grenache-coloured iron roof, is the home and cellar door for winery, Willunga 100. In honour of its flagship drops, it’s been named The Grenache Room – a place where you can taste and explore deeply their highly regarded wines.
So highly regarded, in fact, that Willunga 100’s McLaren Vale 2023 Grenache was awarded the top honour at the recent National Wine Awards: the prestigious Prime Minister’s Trophy for best wine. To put this into perspective, it was judged amongst a thousand other wines, all of which could only be entered if they had received a gold medal score in previous major competitions.
It was the first time a grenache has reached such a pinnacle, making its way to the top via trophies for best grenache and best red wine of show.
Accepting the award in Canberra was Willunga 100’s winemaker Renae Hirsch, a quietly-spoken yet highly-driven woman who might well be a dead-cert secret weapon for several South Australian wineries, given her record of success across the local and national show circuit.
Renae also works in a freelance capacity for McLaren Vale producers including Chalk Hill, Hugo, and Aramis, as well as another, Farmer’s Leap, in the Padthaway region of the state’s south-east Limestone Coast zone.
Her most recent successes come as no surprise – she has twice been named the Bushing Monarch of McLaren Vale for making the best wine in the region’s show.
The trophy collection is not something that Renae shouts loud about, though she is, of course, mighty proud of the recognition for both the McLaren Vale region and the grenache variety, which she admits is her favourite to work with.
Sitting in the cosy Willunga 100 tasting room, the table before her spread handsomely with colourful glass platter trophies from Canberra, Renae is far more comfortable shifting praise to her fellow heroes in the haul – the venerable bush vines in the estate’s neighbouring “Blind Spot” vineyard.
“We’ve been working on this vineyard – they’re very old vines – to make some really good wines out of it,” Renae says.
“It’s great for Willunga 100 as a semi-unknown brand to be recognised like this. Especially as this was an estate wine for only $30.”
The wine was described by National Wine Show Chair of Judges, Matt Harrop, as “incredibly beautiful”. He credited producers like Willunga 100 for leading the way in championing old vines, low-intervention winemaking and thoughtful vineyard practices.
Renae notes the “fresh, lighter fruit character” of grenache, and “earthy spice without being heavy”.
“There’s also a tannin line as well; a really nice structural element, and really good natural acidity, which means you don’t have to add any to it in the winery,” she says.
“I just love the characters that you see when you taste the fruit in the vineyard and just let them shine.”
Her ongoing work with several producers across McLaren Vale has given Renae a uniquely detailed perspective of the region. While shiraz remains the main play in terms of volume made, she has seen the focus evolving from big and bold to lighter styles with less new oak than previous generations.
Vineyard and site-specific wines are increasingly the way to go, she adds, grenache playing a leading role in that movement. She’s also excited by the rise of Mediterranean, Italian and Spanish varieties, many of which have found a home in her expanding portfolio: grenache blanc, vermentino, barbera, montepulciano and graciano among them.
Under the guidance of Will Hugo, the latest incumbent in the multi-generational family to farm the property in the McLaren Vale foothills, they also have new clones of the Spanish origin tempranillo, while continuing their work with regional classics like shiraz, grenache and cabernet sauvignon.
Renae may just have the Midas touch, but it’s one she uses delicately. As Will describes: “She touches everything she does lightly – the wines are better for it. And she is incredibly laser-focused.”
Chalk Hill has been at the forefront of the so-called alternatives revolution, which Renae has steered in a winemaking capacity for more than a decade. And at the other end of the spectrum, her work with Aramis Vineyards has focused on purely traditional varieties like shiraz and cabernet sauvignon.
Subscribe for updates
Across the board, she estimates she makes more than a hundred wines every year, including with several commercial clients and merchants based outside, but tapping into the McLaren Vale region.
“I really like that part of working with each individual brand or owner of the brand, figuring what they actually want and how it would be different,” she says.
“I’m just in the background, doing my thing. I get to do all the wine making without having to do any of the company and business stuff.
“It’s been a lot of fun, and it makes me a better winemaker as well, because you’re not sort of just making for one brand, creating a style in one direction, but trying to do all these different things for different people. It never gets boring.”
The same can be said for her sense of the McLaren Vale lifestyle.
“There is something about McLaren Vale that I love. It’s a whole bunch of things. It is being near the ocean, which I think does play a part in both wine-style and lifestyle here.
“The people here are very relaxed and chilled out, which is nice, and I think that comes with being next to the ocean.
“It’s got to be mostly the people, I guess. That draws you to the region.”
Her personal and professional manner has won great respect from her industry colleagues, according to Erin Leggat,
chief executive officer at the McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association.
“Renae’s incredible talent for crafting wines from across our region, spanning a diverse mix of varieties and styles, while always championing site expression and precision continues to impress at the highest levels,” Erin says.
“She is a highly respected quiet leader of McLaren Vale’s modern fine wine culture.”
That talent also has born results outside of the Fleurieu, with her CV stretching from Langhorne Creek to Padthaway, as well as stints overseas in Germany’s Rheinhessen and Pfalz regions.
She has continued her association with Padthaway at Farmer’s Leap winery since 2011, helping to steer it to five-star recognition in this year’s Halliday Wine Companion, as well as a finalist nomination in that publication’s Dark Horse Winery of the Year award, garnering praise from Halliday team wine writer Shanteh Wale for producing “the highest-quality wines of distinction and truly representing the bright and promising future of the region”.
Farmer’s Leap’s family founders, the Longbottom family, say Renae’s work and influence in the business is “hard to overstate”.
“She shows great commitment, passion and has an endless pursuit of quality that is of immeasurable value,” they say.
For all the accolades and trophies, Renae remains humble. It’s simple, she says, even as she goes calmly about managing the hundreds of variations across her remit.
“I’m just trying to make the wines the best I can.”
This article first appeared in the September 2025 issue of SALIFE magazine.
