Weaving wine family ties

Sisters Alexandra and Rebecca Tolley, known as Ang and Bec, might be fourth-generation winemakers and descendants of wine royalty, but they’re not afraid to shake things up. They describe themselves as the “pedigree that’s been let off the leash” – and the results speak for themselves at their winery, Penley Estate.

The Penley story stretches back to 1947, when Ang and Bec’s parents married (an event the sisters attribute largely to their father’s impressive red sports car). As newlyweds, Reginald Tolley and Judith Penfold Hyland – both members of historic winemaking clans – blended their surnames to create the business name Penley.

But Penley Estate’s story really started in 1988, when Ang and Bec and their brother Kym bought land in Coonawarra, planted grapes and later built a winery. Kym ran the business and built a strong reputation but in 2015 he retired and the sisters stepped up. Virtually everything they know about wine has come from hands-on experience tasting, growing, making and selling it.

“Bec and I have grown up with wine,” says Ang. “It was just always part of our life.”

Their uncle Jeffrey Penfold-Hyland ran Penfolds in the late 1960s and early 70s, and when they visited him, the children were given small amounts of wine to taste and asked for their opinions.

“If we wanted to criticise a wine, we had to be confident in explaining why,” says Ang. “I stood up trying to impress my uncle, and said ‘This is nothing but sweet muck’. Uncle Jeffrey turned to my mother and said, ‘This girl will never work in the wine industry’.”

“And here we are,” says Bec.

Forging their own path

Taking over an established winery brings responsibility and a certain pressure. But rather than taking the easy road by letting things just tick over, Ang and Bec have rethought their entire approach.

“There is the past, which we honour,” says Ang. “We use a lot of family names in our branding. But it’s the future I’m a bit more keen on. We had to completely reinvent ourselves when we took over.”

In 2018 they overhauled the brand, and with top winemaker Kate Goodman – previously of Punt Road Wines – now on board, the three women are helping to redefine Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. “We’re trying to get a fresher, more vibrant style,” says Bec.

They’re also exploring varieties beyond the region’s signature red, including Cabernet Franc.

“Kate originally came to us and said, ‘I reckon you’ve got some fabulous Cab Franc’,” says Ang.

“I frowned and said, ‘Straight Cab Franc. Really?’. Anyway, she produced this Spring Release Cabernet Franc. It just knocked my socks off. It was amazing. A lot of people in Coonawarra were coming to have a try to see what it was like.”

The innovative red scored a tick from the industry too, winning Best Alternative Red Variety at South Australia’s 2018 Limestone Coast Wine Show. That was just a year after Penley Estate’s Phoenix Cabernet Sauvignon was named one of Wine Spectators’ Top 100 wines for 2017.

As they continue steering the evolution of a Coonawarra stalwart, Ang and Bec take inspiration from their female ancestors who blazed trails in Australian wine but often went unrecognised.

“There is a thread of very strong women in both sides of the family,” says Ang. “We’re very proud of them, and trying to follow in their footsteps,” says Bec.

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