St Agnes
In 1910, Dr Angove’s son, Carl, travelled to Renmark, in South Australia’s Riverland, to establish the regions first winery and distillery, this would eventually become the home St Agnes Distillery. Carl’s plan was to use the plentiful supply of table grapes to distil a plain spirit for making the fortified wines that were popular at the time.
In 1922, a young Harry Ronald “Ron” Haselgrove travelled to study at Montpellier Agricultural College to gain invaluable experience in Winemaking and Distillation in Bordeaux and Cognac and to learn the art and science of brandy making from the world’s best producers. On his return in 1925 he was offered a job by Carl to work in the St Agnes Distillery. It was this experience and the observations on this trip, combined with Carl’s extensive studies on distillation, that culminated in the creation of St Agnes Brandy. Over the ensuing 98-plus years the St Agnes Distillery has patiently crafted Australia’s most highly awarded brandies, including winning best brandy in the world on three occasions. During this time just 6 Master Distillers have passed their skills and knowledge to the next in line.
Every year since 1925, the St Agnes Distillery and Barrels Halls have been carefully and characterfully handcrafting brandy that is a testament to the rewards of time, age, ambition and craft. The original copper pot stills, handcrafted and installed by H. Jennings of Adelaide in 1910, have been used to craft every drop of St Agnes Brandy giving it a unique signature and style. With over 100 years of distillation experience we have a clear purpose, to create Australian spirits of exceptional world standard with a unique Australian expression.
St Agnes, Australia’s number one Brandy – the clear market leader, keeps getting stronger. St Agnes now accounts for over 30% of all domestically produced brandy sales – few products can claim this type of market dominance. The strong recognition of St Agnes has been built on the consistently high quality of St Agnes coupled with a history that spans 99 years. Over 65 million bottles of St Agnes have been sold during this time. St Agnes is also Australia’s most highly awarded brandy. In the last 35 years St Agnes has received 50 Trophies, including three “World’s Best”, and two Distilleries of the year, over 100 Gold medals and 250 combined Silver and Bronze medals at local and international shows. St Agnes is one of the few “icon” status Australian brands in the alcoholic beverages market and is a must stock item for every bar, bottle shop, restaurant or club.
