Hamish Maguire
Australia
Making exceptional McLaren Vale wines is his passion
Years Angel-funded: 2016-17
- Having spent decades making winemaking both in Australia and abroad, Hamish was delighted to share his experience and passion for Australian wines with Angels.
- In between catching a wave and crafting wines for his Shottesbrooke label, Hamish spends his time thinking outside the square and dreaming up new and innovative blends that truly speak of their origin.
- The reason Hamish's wines are so special? "They're from McLaren Vale… the grapes do most of the work themselves. Happy vines, happy wines..."
Hamish Maguire's Story
Hamish Maguire's Story
Hamish Maguire lives and breathes McLaren Vale. And, lucky for us, he also knows a thing or two about wine. Which is a very good thing when your chosen vocation is winemaking, and your passion is making wonderfully unique, stand-out wines!
As a child, Hamish was practically raised amongst the vineyards by his step-father, Shottesbrooke founder, Nick Holmes, learning intimately what is required to take a wine right through from vine to bottle.
Growing up so close to the Fleurieu coast, a beautiful melding of hills, vineyards and beaches, he balanced his daily winery duties with the surf, and could often be found catching a wave in between diligently crushing fruit and pruning vines.
He went on to spend his twenties travelling through Europe and it was here, working in the traditional wineries and vineyards of France and Spain, that Hamish became truly infatuated with the beauty and romance of winemaking, and also began to fully appreciate what he had grown up with back home in McLaren Vale.
And so it was that he was homeward bound, where, apart from working his day job as Chief Winemaker for Shottesbrooke, Hamish has now turned his attention to the Engine Room range of wines, which sit outside his normal Shottesbrooke duties and are crafted exclusively for the Naked Wines Angels.
So what is it that Hamish loves the most about Naked Wines and The Engine Room range of wines?
"Angel funding has allowed me broader scope to incorporate extra layers of innovation, creativity and fun that I am not able to draw upon when crafting wines for my more 'mainstream' wines. The Engine Room wines are made up of an exciting and eclectic mix of varieties that I love, from wine regions that I love, and they draw on all the experience I've gained throughout my career - they are unique, interesting, relaxed and on a completely different level to that which I work on in my day-to-day job as a winemaker," says Hamish.
So like the winemaker that produces them, Hamish’s wines really are an ‘engine’ - a beautifully crafted product of their parts... physical, environmental, viticultural, technical, historical, learnt and inherent. And all that combined makes for some exceptionally unique and very drinkable wines, exclusively for Naked Angels!
Hamish's Archangels
In the past I would have described myself as a lover of reds. Since being involved with Naked Wines and the winemakers and other participants, I've opened my horizons and really embraced all wines and the qualities they have to offer. Knowledge is power.
