Bec Hardy
Australia
Bec's Wines
- Australia
- 3 wines
- 1 style
The first female vigneron from one of Australia's oldest wine dynasties
Bec Hardy’s family tree reads like the Who’s Who of South Australian winemaking. Her great-great-great grandfather, Thomas Hardy, made his first wine in South Australia in 1857, kick-starting the state’s wine industry.
Like all the best ‘wine kids’, Bec grew up on the family property, helping out anywhere they’d let her, from training vines to cleaning tanks. But it was her green fingers that steered her down the vine-covered path to success.
Bec’s wines capture the essence of her stunning Tipsy Hill vineyard in Blewitt Springs and the places her forefathers toiled to establish South Australia’s wine industry.
Bec Hardy's Story
Bec Hardy’s family tree reads like the Who’s Who of South Australian winemaking.
Her great-great-great grandfather, Thomas Hardy, made his first wine in South Australia in 1857, kick-starting the state’s wine industry.
Since then, generations of Hardys have been working McLaren Vale soils, nurturing the vines, making world-class wines and becoming Australian legends.
And Bec is the first female vigneron from that illustrious tribe to own her own vineyards and produce her own wine.
Like all the best ‘wine kids’, she grew up on the family property, helping out anywhere they’d let her, from training vines to cleaning tanks. But it was Bec’s green fingers that steered her down the vine-covered path to success.
With a viticultural degree under her belt, she worked right across the wine industry both here and overseas (I hear she was quite the guru in Sicily!) before being lured back to the family business in 2010.
Then, in 2016, a rare opportunity meant Bec could realise a childhood dream… Tipsy Hill vineyard came onto the market.
In truth, it was the house that caught her eye first.
Perched high on a hill in Blewitt Springs, McLaren Vale, it overlooks the award-winning vineyard and the most stunning country gardens. Her fingers itched to be amongst it.
One bite of those tasty black grapes sealed the deal. Bec shuddered to think they had been sold to a large wine producer for years and blended into obscurity.
So she bought the property and got to work to make that Cabernet a single vineyard star — with her name on the label!
South Australia is built on ancient soils and Bec respects that by using organic products and pest management techniques whenever she can.
“As 6th generation farmers, we embrace sustainable viticulture and we're proud of our connection to the land,” she’s proud to say.
And her commitment to sustainability isn’t just confined to the vineyard. She’s on the board of Nature Foundation, the largest conservation landowner in South Australia, and in March 2023, was a state finalist in the Promoting Sustainability category at the Telstra Best of Business Awards.
And the road ahead? “We’re so excited to be working with Naked Wines, and we look forward to growing our independent businesses together!” Bec told me.
With your help, she’ll be saving more vineyards and their gorgeous grapes and bringing you more delicious wines.
