Accolade Wines

Accolade Wines
Location	Old Reynella, South Australia
Formerly	Thomas Hardy and Sons, BRL Hardy, The Hardy Wine Company, Constellation Wines Australia.
Other labels	Amberley, Anakena, Atlas Peak, Babycham, Banrock Station, Bay of Fires, Berri Estates, Brookland Valley, Country Manor, Da Luca, Echo Falls, Eddystone Point, Fish Hoek, Flagstone, Geyser Peak, Ginger Joe, Goundrey, Grant Burge, Hardys, Houghton, House of Arras, Jack Rabbit, Kumala, Leasingham, Le Portail des Coteaux, Mezzomondo, Moondah Brook, Mud House, Omni, Renmano, Reynella, Sir James, Stanley, Stones, Stowells, Ta Ku, Tintara, Turner Road, Waipara Hills, William Hardy, Yarra Burn, XYZin.
Founded	1853
Key people	Paul Schaafsma (chief executive), Nick Greiner (chairman).
Parent company	CHAMP Private Equity (80%), Constellation Brands (20%).
Varietals	Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon blanc, Merlot, Grenache, Semillon
Website	http://www.accolade-wines.com/

Accolade Wines is a major global wine business with headquarters in South Australia.

The company is 80 per cent owned by the Australian private equity firm CHAMP Private Equity and 20 per cent owned by the United-States-based alcohol giant Constellation Brands.

It began as Thomas Hardy and Sons, a company founded in 1853 by Thomas Hardy in Adelaide, which grew to become Australia's largest winemaker. The company headquarters are in Old Reynella, South Australia.

Accolade has more than 1700 employees around the world, with operations in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, mainland Europe, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

At 20 years of age, Thomas Hardy arrived in South Australia after sailing from the English county of Devon in 1850. He worked at Reynella Farm for John Reynell, then drove cattle to the Victorian goldfields. Hardy used the money he had earned to purchase a property on the banks of the River Torrens, which he named 'Bankside'.

Shiraz and Grenache vines were planted on the Bankside property. Wine was sold locally and in England, and the profits enabled Hardy to buy the Tintara Vineyard Company about 1876. Hardy steadily expanded the company over the years, purchasing a bottling plant at Mile End, cellars on Currie Street in Adelaide, and a disused flour mill in McLaren Vale.

In 1938, then chairman Tom Mayfield Hardy was killed in an aeroplane crash along with other leading South Australian winemakers. His cousin, Kenneth Hardy, became chairman.

In 1968, the company established extensive vineyards in the Padthaway area.

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