Heirloom Vineyards was conceived in vintage 2000, when a young winemaking student (Elena) caught the eye of a silly old wine judge (Zar). A love story ensued inspired by two vows: to preserve the best of tradition, the old world of wine and its unique old vineyards and to champion the best clones of each variety planted in the most appropriate sites while embracing the principals of organic farming. Seven long vintages of trial and error passed before Heirloom Vineyards could make a wine that was fine enough to pass on to future generations.

Today, while Heirloom makes wines from all over South Australia, the Vine Street portfolio highlights two of their Adelaide Hills wines: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The fruit comes from a patchwork of incredible sites from growers that Zar & Elena have come to call friends after all these years. The Chardonnay is perfectly old-school-meets-new-wave (think no additions but yeast, very low sulfur, no fining, and just a touch of new oak) and it comes from near Balhannah in the Adelaide Hills. The Pinot Noir comes from Heirloom’s best Adelaide Hills vineyard in Kersbrook and is a juicy, whole cluster style made with neutral, large format French oak.

The wines are made by Canadian-born winemaker, Alexandra Haselich. The female immigrant story is certainly one that is amplified with Alexandra’s addition to the team (Elena was born in Bulgaria), and the experiences of these two women make Heirloom appealing to an international audience while remaining fundamentally Adelaide Hills in origin. And while they might be priced for school nights, don’t be fooled; these are serious, regional benchmark wines that really punch above their weight. Alongside Elena’s other wine projects, Dandelion Vineyards and Sister’s Run, Heirloom represents incredible value for time-honored styles of wines from South Australia.