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The Story Behind Aziza Shiraz

In 1951 the Harkham Family were amongst the first pioneers of Israel’s renowned wine region, Zichron Yackov, where they lived for 16 years. Aziza Harkham, matriarch of the Harkham family, with no electricity and scarce running water used to make natural food and wine for the family from fresh produce and grapes that she had grown. In 2005 Terry, Efrem and Richard Harkham decided to buy Windarra Estate and winery in the Hunter Valley in a move to get back to their roots.

We are a family run and owned business, and generally only crush between 20-25 tonnes a year. We focus on very small batches with extremely high quality. Our own vineyard is farmed using organic methods and we source fruit from a couple of other vineyard partners who we work closely with to ensure they meet our standards.

Through minimal intervention in the winemaking process we are able to express most clearly the amazing terroir driven flavors that the Hunter Valley is renowned for. All our fruit is carefully handpicked and sorted to eliminate rot, unripe fruit and any other diseases, so we can make a style of wine from 100% naturally fermented grape juice.


The Aziza Shiraz

A beautiful wine from one of the best vintages for Shiraz in the Hunter Valley, our hand harvested Shiraz grapes are gently fermented in the style of traditional producers from Southern France – the spiritual home of Shiraz. It’s our 13th year making this wine. It’s bursting with black fruit flavors of cherry and plum , licorice, cloves and cedar. The wine took really long to go through malo meaning more time in oak. After another year of bottle aging and we now have a beautiful wine ready for drinking. Full body with a lovely long finish…zero preservatives or additives, hand picked fruit, this wine was made with the highest quality every step of the way…

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The Story Behind Hark Angel

Harkham Wines was created with the idea of creating high quality wine while giving back to the earth. Our bestselling wine, Hark Angel in particular was crafted to honor a very special individual. Read the the story below to find out more about the origin of Hark Angel.

The Origin of Hark Angel

After a near-death motorbike accident in 2014, the founder of Harkham wines, Richie Harkham was given a second chance of walking by a young boy who died in a car crash and donated his knee. Without the generous donation from the young boy, Richie could’ve lost his injured knee. Since Richie couldn’t find out the boys name, he gave him the name “Hark Angel”.

In loving memory of this donor, Richie created a specific wine, “Hark Angel”. From the wine sales and in the boy’s name, Richie organizes one charity project a year where he helps to build schools in the poorest nations. To date Richie has built 8 school including one in Kenya and seven in Myanmar.

What’s Inside the Hark Angel Wine 

All of our wines are 100% organic and the same goes for our Hark Angel. 

Firstly, the Hark Angel has silky smooth tannins. The tannins are derived from the skins, stems, and seeds of the grapes used to produce the wine. Sometimes it can give a bitter taste to the wine, but the Hark Angel is carefully crafted so it goes down smoothly.

Hark Angel ($40)
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The 2021 Hark Angel Shiraz involved us hand picking grapes and after a 7 day fermentation we left the wine on the skins for another 5 days which created silky smooth tannins. The wine tastes beautifully right now bursting with primary fruit flavors of black plums, cherries and cloves from the 10 months we barreled the wine in finest French Oak which gives the wine more subtle, silkier textures. Meanwhile the outside packaging of the wine is beautifully decorated in a bottle featuring custom artwork of the Hark Angel that generously donated his knee.

Lastly, our favorite part about the wine is Hark Angel is unfiltered and has zero preservatives so you can feel good while enjoying your glass of wine. 

Recently We Committed to Sponsoring 15 Children in Kenya 

Most recently Richie visited his school in Kenya in July. Together with his “Hark Angel” leader, Indica, they came across 15 girls that are some of the most at risk children in the country.

Despite their tough circumstances, these children are incredibly grateful, happy, humble and kind. And more than anything else that are hungry to learn, as they understand that education is their key to a better future.

Unfortunately without sponsorship most of these children would never have the opportunity to go to school, or to start creating a brighter future for themselves.

The elder girl in this picture is one of the children that Hark Angel will be sponsoring to go through school.

Below is Indica’s story about the two girls:

“The story of these two girls and what they have been through in the past breaks my heart.

No child should go through the hurt and heartache that these girls have faced and continue to struggle with.

Their mother died while the little girl is only 3 months old, they were left under care of their paternal grandmother, shortly after a while she passed on too. Their father developed a psychological depression and ran away.

Now, they were taken to their maternal grandmother who after a short illness passed away! They were left stranded under care of their uncles, separated to different houses. The uncles might be willing but they are struggling with their big families in this hards economy in Kenya.

My friend sent me these photos as she is currently visiting the girls. I had sent her a little money to help the girls, and she was able to buy some food… plus she got the girls a dress each so that they had one nice possession.”

Purchase your bottle of Hark Angel now or donate directly to the charity. We appreciate your donation. 🙂

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The benefits of drinking organic wine

Who wants a hangover when we have so much on our plates? The joys of drinking wine should be blah blah blah

Airplane

Copper wire, wood base. I created this piece in late 2008. For this work, I aimed to convey both the industrial heaviness of an airplane, but also the cloud-like floating quality you feel when you’re in one.

ECOSYSTEM

Positive growth.

Nature, in the common sense, refers to essences unchanged by man; space, the air, the river, the leaf. Art is applied to the mixture of his will with the same things, as in a house, a canal, a statue, a picture. But his operations taken together are so insignificant, a little chipping, baking, patching, and washing, that in an impression so grand as that of the world on the human mind, they do not vary the result.

The sun setting through a dense forest.
Wind turbines standing on a grassy plain, against a blue sky.
The sun shining over a ridge leading down into the shore. In the distance, a car drives down a road.

Undoubtedly we have no questions to ask which are unanswerable. We must trust the perfection of the creation so far, as to believe that whatever curiosity the order of things has awakened in our minds, the order of things can satisfy. Every man’s condition is a solution in hieroglyphic to those inquiries he would put.