I bumped into the bundle of energy that is Leon Hill at the South Australian Showcase – ‘Ruled by Flavour’ in Auckland recently. Then there he was again in the South Australia section at Winetopia (Organic Hill is based in McLaren Vale) – where he was the hardest working stallholder in show. I’d heard his story then, but it bears repeating for those who haven’t heard it. His label – Organic Hill – is fervently preservative-free, but I asked Leon first about the name Organic Hill and what that entailed…
Leon Hill: There’s two different bodies ACO and NASA. One, I find, is the engine room of the majority of organics – which is ACO; and then you’ve got NASA, and I think they’re a lot harder and more strict than ACO. I’ve chosen to go and work with that. It is more difficult to get it done because it is an accreditation that’s highly regarded. When I went to China back in 2018, they were “Oh you’re NASA, that’s awesome”, so they rated it higher. I know that Temple Brewer and D’Arenberg are NASA. A few that are coming into it and they’re premium, and choosing their top end ranges. They’re the ones that are getting into it.
You know my story – started off with what I thought was a gluten intolerance back in 2006 – self-diagnosed – and started eating things like gluten-free breads, which back then were really bad. I tested myself for irritable bowel, and I wasn’t. So I cut gluten out – went gluten-free, and then you have a Friday night with a beer and a pizza. Then Saturday mornings you’d wake up feeling yuck, just disgusting.
I then met this italian pizza guy and he said to me “Leon, I don’t think it’s this at all. I reckon it is preservatives, and the flour you’ve been having is Australian flour. They’re not doing ten tonnes to the acre, it’s all fifty tonnes to the acre… and getting these numbers because of Round-Up. That increases yields but is basically heavily poisonous. Try this italian flour” And I’m like ‘whatever!’ But then I had the pizza, and I was “oh, this is fine – give me another slice’. Because I can eat pizza and as it hits my guts – within two minutes – I feel like I want to chuck it all up.
And, I mean the Italian style isn’t like baking a cake where it’s two fingers thick. It’s fingernail thin, and the ham is sliced thin, the sauce is thin, and it’s cooked for ninety seconds. So, hey I had the whole pizza, and no dramas. And that’s how I came across it – it actually wasn’t gluten – it was the preservative. It was a revelation – to the extent that I chose to implement that into my whole wine brand.
Initially it went on deaf ears. No-one was making it, and you have some trial and errors. We’ve done some amazing wines, and some less so. More amazing ones than not. The crap ones oxidise fast. It’s funny – we’ve got this lady in the States and she orders ten dozen every three months! Sauvignon Blanc – she loves it because it tastes like a dirty martini. And I’m like ‘that’s not the description of a Sauvignon Blanc at all’. So what do I know?! I’ve been in the wine industry for 25 years, and this one baffles me. So I ask her if she wants the other 1000 cases I’ve got!? hahaha
WineFolio: I think I’ve used root beer and negroni in descriptions for wines recently; but ‘dirty martini’ hasn’t made it into my vocabulary yet.
LH: Then you get people who say ‘I want it to taste like this..’ This is the problem. Sauvignon Blanc is never really going to be preservative-free. ‘Well I want preservative-free’ – yeah, I want a winning lottery ticket. But it is what it is. I keep coming back to the same old problem. I’ve got to create another one and it’s going to smell like cat’s pee – but people love it! hahaha
WF: Are they just buying your wines because it is preservative-free, or is there more to it than that?
LH: They’re buying it because it tastes good. But I think they buy the white wines more, because it is preservative-free. I say to people “Have you ever woken up after you’d drunk that bottle of $8.99 wine you bought from Woolworths or Aldi – and you thought it was delicious at the time… now a good winemaker can make cheap wine taste good, but to do that they’ve added preservatives”.
Now, I never promote my wine along the lines of “Oh it’s preservative-free – I can drink as much as I want and never get a headache” because alcohol is still alcohol… so – No, you can’t.
It is such an amazing story and the USP of my brand is preservative-free. But as much as I want to push that, some people will want organic wines and just low-preservative.
WF: And organic wine here in New Zealand – I’m not sure how it is understood – if it makes much of a difference in sales? It starting off being seen as a bit of a ‘green-hippy thing’ and then when it became more prevalent, that it could be a bit cynical – just a marketing buzzword? Yet I assume that organic – and certainly preservative-free – costs more to make?
LH: It does. You’ve got to pay for certification, and the preservative-free production in order to maintain it. It probably adds 20% more in costs, as well as having someone that does all my paperwork. I have to get certificates from the truck company, the grape growers, soil sampling.. but you can charge more for your product. Our entry level sits in that $20-25 range. And our McLaren Vale which is $40-50. And a premium that sits in the $90. And a Super-Premium that is $180. That’s my founding forefather – Sir John Hill. Look up JohnHillwines.com.au.
WF: I looked up Clem Hill. I’m not much of a cricket buff, but he sounds impressive.
LH: He’s my Great-Grandfathers brother. I’m furious at the cricket at the moment. Why the heck is David Warner still playing? He’s been crap for three years. But he’s from Sydney. Favoured pet, and his wife works for Channel 9. And he scores like – 3, or 2 – but then against Bangladesh or Afghanistan he makes a hundred. You could play against the left-handed Vietnamese Mah Jong and beat them, hahaha.
WF: Was there anything from New Zealand that you liked whilst you were here?
LH: I didn’t really get much of a chance. I had one – was it No.1?
WF: Sparkling? Yes – and they’ve got a great story behind that. I love stories – for me it makes the difference. Their family is literally from the Champagne region in France.
LH: Yes, I didn’t get the chance to go back, and we were going to go out to dinner. That was interesting. I like that history. We had some synergy. The fact that John Hill is from 1836.
WF: Good on you for finding them. Although to be fair, they were the first stand as you went in to Winetopia, so I hope you ventured a little deeper in?
LH: No I was too busy downstairs. I had three wines on tasting every day, so I was probably one of the busiest in that South Australian section. I was busy non-stop. I did comment that there’s some old hat there. You see some of them who just sit there and don’t even engage with people. I was out and about on the other side of my counter. And give them a taste for free – I know they’re supposed to pay with little tokens.
And I also see some people aren’t telling people about the organic grapes they’re using. I say own it, be proud of it… I’ve called myself ‘Organic Hill’. I was watching ‘Shark Tank’, and there was a guy from Hill Science who had a range of dog food called ‘Hill’s Organic’. And for me it was a lightbulb moment – Organic Hill!! So I put it through the trademarking.
WF: There are some companies here that are fully organic and they don’t make any noise about it. Sometimes it’s not even on the label – certainly not on the front label. So, do people understand that it makes a difference? Are people looking for organic wine, or does it not influence their buying decisions? Also, at the Expo, I perceived a move towards a lighter style of wines? In things like Grenache for example.
LH: There’s not enough Grenache though. It’s a good stepping stone with some of the Pinots, into red wines. You’ve got to have your ‘new age wines’. I think I have a product that is very fresh, with delicious fruit and nothing aged – it’s not been in a barrel for two years. It’s an expression of fruit. And that’s what people are wanting. We’re here to drink it now. And you’ve got to get your head around that – this is the future. It’s like Pepsi said – the taste of a new generation.
And with Organic Hill I can get the best of the best from wherever. Some like Chester from D’Arenberg is my cousin’s ex-husband, so they’re just as good as family. And they’re only 800 metres away from my vineyard. We’ve got our vineyards but we live in Adelaide – I need to be near the airport not the vineyard.
WF: D’Arenberg have some weird and wonderful varietals that aren’t being produced here in New Zealand – like Mencia or Nero d’Avola. And there is talk in New Zealand along the lines of ‘what are we going to be doing next?’ Not just climate change, but at some point the world could fall out of love with Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
LH: It’s got to be the right varietal for the region you’re in. You could make some Fiano or Mencia. I just came back from Texas and you realise that there are other parts of the world growing the same varieties – but they’re not near the ocean and they’re not like the Rhone Valley, but the way the wine is being made is quite delicious. Fredericksburg was the best example in Texas. Went to a couple of wineries and it was delicious. They made Grenache, Mourvedre, and they made Shiraz and Mencia and had some Cabernet. And I was like “In Texas!! Wow.”
WF: How was the food? If I went to Texas my primary interest would be filling my stomach with food.
LH: Do you remember the movie ‘Meet the Fockers’ and they always went to Chewychangas to eat? I went there. They had fajitas and soft-shell tacos which were amazing. Our tacos in Australia are crap. The meat is turned into mince rather than being meat. It should be shredded beef, not actually minced meat. In Barossa our food, or produce is great, but the soil is different. You might have a Cellar door in Barossa but it doesn’t mean they are making the product there. But if you go over to Adelaide Hills, there are cows and they’re making milk and cheese. Same in the Hunter – they put in these makeshift Cellar doors and 90% of the grapes aren’t from the Hunter. They’re from Orange or Mudjee. But your tourist buses turn up and because they’ve put in twenty rows in front of the Cellar Door..they think it’s all there.
I’m not saying that Barossa is exactly like that. They’re very Old World. My grandfather loved it and my parents love it. But the generation under me are looking for different stuff. Something like Clare Valley is still pushing riesling, and it has got so old that new people don’t even know it as a variety! I know it as my Grandma’s wine, but it’s been around so long that now it’s cool again. Pinot Gris was Pinot Grigio because all the old italians did it, and now it has come back to fruition in the last five to ten years and people love it.
