Wine wisdom: A chat with Craig Stansborough of Accolade Wines

During his tenure at Seppeltsfield, Stansborough took it all in. “I was like a sponge,” laughs Stansborough. “I wanted to learn and understand everything.” There, he met and worked with expert winemakers, who showed him the ropes, deepening his enchantment with the art. “They probably saw something in me that I didn’t,” recalls Stansborough. “They guided me and taught me a lot, and I’m so very appreciative of the effort and time that they put into me. They gave me opportunities that weren’t afforded to some.”

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Eventually, Stansborough fell upon a job opening for an assistant winemaker at Grant Burge Wines, a family-run winery based in The Barossa Valley producing award-winning wines. It was there that he truly honed his craft and took his love for winemaking to the next level. “I was successful at getting the job in the first place and that really propelled my winemaking career,” shares Stansborough. “As the company grew, I worked my way through the ladder from assistant winemaker to winemaker to senior winemaker and eventually chief winemaker. I also won the award for Barossa Winemaker of the Year in 2014, which was nice to get some recognition from my peers.”

In mid-2015, Grant and Helen Burge sold the winery to Accolade Wines, who was also responsible for other reputable wine labels around the region. “In the first six months, it was really difficult to go from a family business to a bigger company,” divulges Stansborough. “However, we realised that we still had the freedom and bore ownership over the business because we were still in charge of the traditions and styles at the winery, which was amazing.”

About four years after the takeover, Stansborough was promoted to group premium winemaker. “This promotion meant that I had to look after not only Grant Burge Wines but all of the premium portfolio wines in the company, including Hardys Wines,” elaborates Stansborough. “That was a big step for me, albeit a seriously challenging one, but I’m still doing it!”

As group premium winemaker, Stansborough looks after the quality and style of every premium Australian wine put out under the Accolade name. “Every wine region has its own idiosyncrasies that we, as winemakers, tend to understand more and more with time,” explains Stansborough. “Each winery has its own winemakers that produce the wines and my role is to oversee that and to make sure that the style, as generic of a term as it is, isn’t changing too dramatically year in year out.”

“Our consumers are comfortable with what the brand and its own style is delivering and my job is to oversee that and to understand what each region, its brands, and our teams are doing so I can help maintain and improve that,” continues Stansborough. “It’s a lot of quality control of course, but I also look for opportunities among everything else like new blends that might fit into certain portfolios.”

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Stansborough also brings his oenophile skills across oceans as he visits wineries in France, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, and more to further his wine knowledge. “The few trips that I’ve taken to France and Italy have been pretty amazing. It’s great to learn what those guys do as they’ve been doing it the same way for so long,” beams Stansborough. “You can understand some of their philosophies and can learn little bits of information from them that could help improve your own craft.”

He also applies the same philosophies when having people visit his own wineries. “When people visit your winery and especially if it’s another winemaker, you never tell them what to do,” states Stansborough. “You never question what they’re doing and it’s always about observation and understanding. But if they ask questions on how we do things or what we do with a certain variety of oak or what we do with our technique, I’m very open!”

With Hardys Wines in particular, Stansborough is committed to preserving its heritage and traditions that have been part of the brand over its 170 years of existence. He understands the importance of remembering the wine’s origins and preserving its quality. “You always have to respect your tradition and where it all started,” says Stansborough. “I think if you forget that, then you’re lost. Given that Hardys is 170 years old, there is a great amount of heritage and tradition that needs to be kept up.”

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Preserving such a historic and accomplished brand’s heritage, traditions, and culture is no easy feat. However, Stansborough boils it down to one simple philosophy: you have to be proud of what you put into your bottles. “There are a million steps in this process that I could talk about for days but at the end of it all, you have to make sure what you put into the bottle is good,” asserts Stansborough. “It doesn’t take long to destroy a brand if you continually put out poor quality. There have been many, many people who have come before me at Hardys, not just in winemaking, that put so much time and effort into the business. If you put an inferior wine into the portfolio, the brand is destroyed and it tars everybody with the same brush.”

As a winemaker, Stansborough’s main concern is always about improving the quality of the wines under his belt. With Hardys teams, Stansborough ensures that the brand is always getting stronger with each season and harvest. “We look for new things and new technologies, but keep in mind that our customers are key,” affirms Stansborough. “We shouldn’t change the style that they are comfortable with but we can improve it bit by bit with every year.” To stay in touch with Hardys Wines’ global fanbase, Stansborough also makes trips around the world every year, keeping abreast with his teams on the ground. 

In the Philippines, those looking to get a taste of these quality wines can look forward to the 20th Grand Wine Experience this November 17, where the Hardys portfolio will be among those featured. Happening at the grand ballroom of Manila Marriott Hotel, this is Southeast Asia's biggest wine event featuring more than 1,000 brands of wines, spirits, sake, and beer, with an expected attendance of more than 5,000 wine enthusiasts. 

When it comes to his legacy, Stansborough has one hope for when he retires from the industry. “I want to promote creativity,” tells Stansborough. “If anybody in our industry or company wants to try something new, I would be fully supportive. So I’m hoping that when I leave the industry, they would be happy that I had supported them in every avenue to try and create something new.”

Don’t miss these Hardys Wines limited-edition offerings:

• Get a free decanter set with any three of Heritage Reserve Bin, Eileen, Thomas wines, exclusively through winery.ph and thirst.com.ph
• Treat yourself to a Tintara and Nottage Hill assorted gift pack until supplies last, currently available at SM or S&R stores
• Buy two bottles of Hardys VR for less Php 100 in all major supermarket chains nationwide
• Spread the holiday cheer with a Hardys 170 Thomas Hardy gift box, available on winery.ph and thirst.com.ph from December 2023

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