Stonehaven takes its name from one of its vineyards which originally formed part of the pioneering Hynam Station established by one of the region's first settlers Adam Smith in 1846. Stonehaven features the latest winemaking technology that provides the winemaker with unprecedented control over the winemaking process, allowing them to maximise the special characters of every batch of premium fruit that comes into the winery.
Since opening, the winery and its wines have won numerous awards, including a number of gold medals at major national and international wine shows and an engineering excellence award. In 2000 Stonehaven was honoured to be named 'International Winery of the Year' at the prestigious San Francisco International Wine Competition. Though Stonehaven can process 10,000 tonnes of fruit every vintage, each vineyard block can receive individual treatment. Fruit can be soft pressed in very small batches to fully capture regional characteristics.
Through a specially designed computer program, every stage of the winemaker's craft can be managed with a precision previously unknown. Fermentation can be controlled to maximise varietal flavours. Reds are tasted twice a day and whites once a day to monitor their progress. The result is superbly crafted wines. Perfectly matched to contemporary tastes. Singular expressions of the winemaker's art.
This hall is exactly one acre in size and at full capacity can hold 15,000 barrels, which is equivalent to 500,000 dozen bottles of wine. After crushing and fermentation, the wines which require barrel maturation are pumped to this hall and decanted into a selection of the finest French and American oak available. This maturation in oak allows the wine to develop structure and further character to complement the fruit flavours but never to dominate them. The time the wine spends in barrel varies depending on the wine and in some cases, Susanne Bell will ferment in barrel which adds further unique characters to the resulting wine.
Stonehaven sources fruit from more that 2,200 acres of premium vineyard holdings in several distinctly different microclimates located throughout the prestigious Limestone Coast district of South Australia. These include: Padthaway 452 hectares, Wrattonbully 160 hectares, and Coonawarra 127 hectares.
Located in the south eastern corner of South Australia, the Limestone Coast includes Padthaway, Coonawarra, Wrattonbully, Mount Benson, Robe and Mount Gambier. Stonehaven wines are blended from fruit sourced from all three of the major areas; namely Padthaway, Coonawarra and Wrattonbully, which make up the Limestone Coast.
Areas more northerly and inland (such as Padthaway) experience less rainfall and more sunlight hours than their coastal neighbors, although generous cloud cover and mild temperatures are common. These factors permit grapes to ripen more slowly, developing full fruit flavors without losing acidity.
Arguably one of the best regions for producing outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra is a long established region renowned for its textured Terra Rossa soils over a limestone base, providing excellent drainage. The southernmost of Stonehaven's vineyards, Coonawarra is a cool climate region, and this is reflected in the structure, longevity and fruit expression of the wines.
