ABOUT BRASH HIGGINS
In 2007, Brad Hickey moved from NYC to McLaren Vale, South Australia. His journey through food and drink had taken him from his home in Chicago, to Paris, to Portland, to New York City where he flourished as head sommelier under 2 Star Michelin Chef David Bouley, and finally, to Australia, where he’d come to work his first vintage. Brad decided to stick around for awhile, was given the nickname "Brash" by the Aussie pruners that welcomed him to the land, and has been a fixture in the Australian wine scene ever since.
By the time Brad arrived in 2007, the Vale was in the midst of a drought, and the entire region was suffering. But there was something special about this place, with its mineral-rich clay and active beds of limestone, and the cooling breezes coming off of the Gulf of St. Vincent just 5km away. In spite of the challenges, it was a great spot to grow grapes. As we now know, to a certain extent the more vines suffer, the better the fruit tends to be.
Seeing how the Shiraz and Cabernet were hit the hardest by the drought, he began to investigate different grapes which might fare better in the harsh conditions. Remembering a passing conversation with local legend Steve Pannell about the resilient Southern Italian varietal Nero d’Avola and how it could be a good fit in the Vale, Brad and his partner at the time, vigneron Nicole Thorpe, embarked on a journey that would take them all the way to Sicily, to see firsthand how the native grape thrived in the hot and dry conditions of the island’s various soils. There Brash met with some excellent, progressive producers using amphora to ferment and age their wines with fascinating results, like COS and Frank Cornelissen, and Brad's imagination was let loose.
Sicily felt a lot like home. And the Nero ignited something in the pair, so they grafted cuttings onto a half acre of their Shiraz vines on Omensetter (now have 3 acres under vine). The next step was to find someone with the chops locally to make their amphora or clay pots. After a thorough search, Brash commissioned Adelaide based potter John Bennett to make them some 200 litre terracotta vessels from the local SA clay, much like the ones they’d seen and tasted from in Sicily. And just like that, their first wine, an estate grown amphora fermented Nero d'Avola, under the name "Brash Higgins" was born.
Brad's interest in little-known or outre varietals has grown since then to encompass Zibibbo, Cinsault and Crystal. Their fascination with exploring fermentation techniques led to BLOOM, widely regarded as the closest any Australian winery has come to creating a local expression using methods associated with the famous, slow aged Vin Jaune wines of the Jura. His commitment to looking after their vines and their land led them to pursue Australian Certified Organic certification, which Omensetter and the Brash Higgins micro-winery received in 2017. Their love of food and living well has resulted in some truly legendary lunches, and a reputation for warmth and hospitality at the Brash Higgins winery where they engage many visitors per year in detailed, intimate tastings.
ABOUT BRASH HIGGINS
In 2007, Brad Hickey moved from NYC to McLaren Vale, South Australia. His journey through food and drink had taken him from his home in Chicago, to Paris, to Portland, to New York City where he flourished as head sommelier under 2 Star Michelin Chef David Bouley, and finally, to Australia, where he’d come to work his first vintage. Brad decided to stick around for awhile, was given the nickname "Brash" by the Aussie pruners that welcomed him to the land, and has been a fixture in the Australian wine scene ever since.
By the time Brad arrived in 2007, the Vale was in the midst of a drought, and the entire region was suffering. But there was something special about this place, with its mineral-rich clay and active beds of limestone, and the cooling breezes coming off of the Gulf of St. Vincent just 5km away. In spite of the challenges, it was a great spot to grow grapes. As we now know, to a certain extent the more vines suffer, the better the fruit tends to be.
Seeing how the Shiraz and Cabernet were hit the hardest by the drought, he began to investigate different grapes which might fare better in the harsh conditions. Remembering a passing conversation with local legend Steve Pannell about the resilient Southern Italian varietal Nero d’Avola and how it could be a good fit in the Vale, Brad and his partner at the time, vigneron Nicole Thorpe, embarked on a journey that would take them all the way to Sicily, to see firsthand how the native grape thrived in the hot and dry conditions of the island’s various soils. There Brash met with some excellent, progressive producers using amphora to ferment and age their wines with fascinating results, like COS and Frank Cornelissen, and Brad's imagination was let loose.
Sicily felt a lot like home. And the Nero ignited something in the pair, so they grafted cuttings onto a half acre of their Shiraz vines on Omensetter (now have 3 acres under vine). The next step was to find someone with the chops locally to make their amphora or clay pots. After a thorough search, Brash commissioned Adelaide based potter John Bennett to make them some 200 litre terracotta vessels from the local SA clay, much like the ones they’d seen and tasted from in Sicily. And just like that, their first wine, an estate grown amphora fermented Nero d'Avola, under the name "Brash Higgins" was born.
Brad's interest in little-known or outre varietals has grown since then to encompass Zibibbo, Cinsault and Crystal. Their fascination with exploring fermentation techniques led to BLOOM, widely regarded as the closest any Australian winery has come to creating a local expression using methods associated with the famous, slow aged Vin Jaune wines of the Jura. His commitment to looking after their vines and their land led them to pursue Australian Certified Organic certification, which Omensetter and the Brash Higgins micro-winery received in 2017. Their love of food and living well has resulted in some truly legendary lunches, and a reputation for warmth and hospitality at the Brash Higgins winery where they engage many visitors per year in detailed, intimate tastings.
