Margaret River winery McHenry Hohnen was established in 2004, as a partnership between winemaker and biological farmer David Hohnen and his brother-in-law Murray McHenry, a wine retailer and grape-grower. The pair had a purist’s approach to winemaking, drawing on several generations’ worth of experience to establish a biological minimal-intervention growing method focused on single-vineyard lines,
The company is now headed up by progressive winemaker Trent Carroll and viticulturist Mike Sleegers, who maintain the estate’s low-tech and biodynamic approach. Rather than going for cutting-edge technology, the company incorporates pre-industrial practices that favour quality over quantity.
The result is a portfolio made up of small batches of expressive and authentic fine wines, created using hand-harvested unusual varieties and wild ferments. These sustainably produced wines offer something of an education to keen wine drinkers, showcasing the potential of older production methods and the full flavours of less-favoured grape varieties.
