Iain Hayes
Glenbawn Winemaker
Iain Hayes was born & bred in the Scone area of the Upper Hunter. He started with Tyrrell's at the Glenbawn Winery in the Upper Hunter in December 1985, straight from school. An apprenticeship of sorts followed with mentoring from Drew Noon & Trevor Jones before being handed the reins to manage the Glenbawn winery in 1988.
A stint of external studies at Charles Sturt University to obtain a Wine Science degree was interrupted by the opportunity to work three vintages in France as a Flying Winemaker.
An enormous amount of expansion occurred at the Glenbawn winery in the late eighties & early nineties to accommodate Tyrrell's ever expanding volume of Long Flat production. When the brand was sold the pace slowed somewhat enabling Iain & staff to concentrate on the Old Winery & Rufus Stone products. Today Iain is responsible for processing the 1200 tonnes of fruit from the Glenbawn vineyards for Old Winery & Lost Block products. Another 1300 tonnes of red fruit is received from the McLaren Vale & Limestone Coast vineyards in South Australia for fermentation & most of the fruit from the Heathcote Region in Victoria is transported to the Glenbawn winery for fermentation & maturation. Wines made from these regions are used in the Old Winery, Lost Block & Rufus Stone ranges.