How Do You Follow 38 Vintages at Brokenwood?

Send us Fan Mail Iain Riggs made 38 vintages as Brokenwood's chief winemaker. In 2024, Stuart Hordern became only the second person to take on the role. So how do you honour more than half a century of legacy while still making it your own? Stuart grew up on a mixed farm in the Upper Hunter, hosing out grape bins over the school holidays while his dad built the Horseshoe Vineyard from nothing. From there it was ag college in Orange, winemaking in Adelaide under the generous eye of Dean Hewitson, vintages in south west France and Sonoma, and a stint at Tyrrell's before a game of rugby led him to Brokenwood in 2009. Seventeen years later, he's running the place. And 2026 has been some year. A third Hunter Valley Winemaker of the Year, on the same night his father was named a living legend of the Hunter wine industry, and Brokenwood crowned Halliday Winery of the Year. Stuart is quick to share the credit with everyone from the vineyard crew to the finance team. Along the way we taste four wines that tell the Brokenwood story. A zippy 2025 Hunter Valley Semillon that's pretty much a breakfast wine, the 2019 ILR Reserve Semillon named after Riggsy and showing exactly what patience does to Hunter Semillon, the 2023 Hunter Valley Shiraz, and the 2024 Graveyard Shiraz, one of only three Shiraz in the country to score 99 points from Halliday this year. You'll also hear how the Graveyard vineyard got its name (no bodies, just grapes), how three Sydney wine lovers started Brokenwood as a weekend hobby in 1970, and why the team went chasing cooler climate Chardonnay in Beechworth. The biggest lesson running through it all comes from Riggsy: you can't make great wine if you only ever taste your own, and you never settle for OK. Stuart also makes the case for New South Wales as one of Australia's most underrated wine states, ahead of NSW Wine Month and Sydney Cellar Door this November. It's a warm, honest chat about legacy, family and the Hunter Valley, and why the best way to honour what came before is to keep making it a little bit better every year. 👉 Subscribe to @thewinedup and tell us below: What's the Hunter Valley wine that won you over? Drop it in the comments 👇 Go check out Brokenwood: https://www.brokenwood.com.au/ and Sydney Cellar Door tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/sydney-cellar-door See what's on at NSW Wine Month: https://thewinedup.com.au/events-nsw-wine-month 🎙️ Clip from The Wined Up Podcast 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on Instagram @the.wined.up and @brokenwoodwines 🌐 Visit https://www.thewinedup.com.au 📩 [email protected] #brokenwood #stuarthordern #huntervalley #huntersemillon #nswwinemonth #drinkaustralian #TheWinedUpPodcast #wedrinkwetrywelearnweconnect We Drink. We Try. We Learn. We connect. Drink Responsibly. 🍷 YouTube Chapters 00:00 Taking the Reins of a Hunter Valley Legacy 00:30 The Wined Up Ice Breaker Questions 07:41 A Young Semillon Made for Breakfast 10:22 From an Upper Hunter Farm to Brokenwood 15:13 Riggsy, the ILR and the Art of Ageing 25:53 One Big Night for Father and Son 28:18 The 2023 Shiraz and How Graveyard Got Its Name 33:04 Three Sydney Wine Lovers and a Weekend Hobby 36:49 Why Brokenwood Went Looking for Cooler Chardonnay 40:39 Tasting the 99 Point Graveyard Shiraz 43:28 Is New South Wales Wine Underrated? 47:13 The Legacy He Wants to Leave Follow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].    Drink More, Try More, Learn More.