shaw-and-smith-single-vineyard-wines

Shaw + Smith’s Single Vineyard wines have had a glow up. The 2024 Lenswood Chardonnay, 2024 Lenswood Pinot Noir, and 2023 Balhannah Shiraz hit shelves in March bearing shiny new labels with the name of each vineyard proudly and prominently displayed. 

“Connection to place is what resonates most with us,” says chief winemaker and CEO Adam Wadawitz. “We’ve been leaning more into site and wanted to reflect that.”

Adam has been making these wines for over 10 years now, with the first Balhannah Shiraz produced in 2013, Lenswood Chardonnay in ’14, and Lenswood Pinot Noir in ’16. The journey has been intentionally slow, he says. “You can’t underestimate the time it takes to understand vineyards and how to unlock the full potential of what's going on and make the most of each season.” 

“One of the things that makes single vineyard wines so fascinating is that they come with the personality of the site,” he adds. “It’s less about dialling something up and trying to force a nice drink, more about standing back and loving the site for who it is.”

The 35ha Balhannah vineyard, established by Shaw + Smith founders Martin Shaw and Michael Hill-Smith MW in 1999, sits at an elevation of 340–380m elevation and comprises free draining sandy loam soils over red clay with underlying quartzite, shale and ironstone.

“Balhannah is probably the most characterful, recognisable site that we’ve worked with,” says Adam. “The wines are medium-bodied and very red-fruited with dried spice characters and plenty of tannin from the ironstone. The tannin comes like a freight train.” 

Lenswood, which was also planted in ’99 but purchased by Shaw + Smith in 2012, is on predominantly brown loams over clay with broken shales, and at 455–500m elevation is a fair bit cooler, leading to wines with great natural acidity and intensity of flavour. 

“The hallmarks of Lenswood chardonnay are white floral notes, and extract from low yields. You get this extra level of intensity on the palate. The wines often take longer to show themselves, too.

“Pinot noir off that same site is very much on the ethereal spectrum,” he continues. “Perfumed, lots of aromatics, forest floor, and a delicateness that runs through.”

Shaw + Smith also own two more vineyards in the Adelaide Hills: a high-density (10,000 vines per/ha) site in Piccadilly Valley, planted in 2020 to chardonnay and pinot noir; and an additional 10ha of chardonnay in Lobethal, acquired in ’24. All four sites are certified organic, and tended to by group viticulturist Murray Leake and vineyard manager Ben Jonas, who’ve worked hard to improve and maintain soil health, encourage biodiversity, and increased vine density. 

Shaw + Smith are yet to release a single-vineyard wine from either Piccadilly Valley or Lobethal, despite seeing “glimpses of some mind-blowing wines”. 

“We want to wait for when the vineyards are ready and for when we're ready and for when we see the expression that we're after. A lot of work's gone into that. We don't want to rush these things,” says Adam.

“None of this stuff is short-term. One of the things about family-owned wineries and vineyards is that you get a chance to lean into that and think about the future.”