Mel McWilliam is proud of her family’s legacy. Photo: Supplied.
Griffith’s McWilliam’s Wines has won the coveted Best Australian Wine of Show award at the 2025 Japan Wine Challenge, Asia’s most influential wine competition.
On top of being one of only two Australian producers to win an award, the Riverina’s oldest winery also claimed the Best Fortified of Show Trophy at the 2025 NSW Wine Awards.
Winemaker Mel McWilliam is the great-great-granddaughter of John James McWilliam – the man who founded the family business.
She said the award was a reflection of the region’s commitment to producing good quality wine.
“It’s a great indication of how good we can make wine here. Like most of the wineries here, we make quite large volumes,” she said.
“So to be able to make such volumes and still get recognised for the quality of wines is always really good.”
The McWilliam family were early pioneers of winemaking in Australia. In 1877, Irish immigrant Samuel McWilliam planted his first vines on the outskirts of Corowa. His son John James established the Hanwood McWilliam estate in 1917, the first winery in the Griffith region. Mel explained her place in the famous lineage.
“John James had four sons. One of them was my great-grandfather, Keith. My grandfather was Don. My father is Chris [all of whom worked in the winery],” she said.
McWilliam’s Winery is known for the iconic Hanwood Big Wine Barrel, a giant replica of a wine barrel built into a cellar door. It was first brought to life more than 50 years ago, before the company went into administration in 2020. The Calabria Family Wines resurrected the iconic wine barrel after taking over McWilliam’s and its Hanwood vineyard.
“I think the fortified wines very much reflects our long history. They spend years and years in barrels, and that it’s a great representation, and a great place to come enjoy a good fortified wine,” Ms McWilliam said.
McWilliam’s is known for its Big Wine Barrel. Photo: McWilliam’s Wines.
Ms McWilliam believes their long history and experience is what sets them apart from other wineries.
“Especially given that it is fine wine, which we’ve been making for nearly 150 years,” she said.
“And just being able to store very old wine for such a long time and have it develop into these amazing wines is probably something that separates us from most of the wineries in the country.”
While there are a lot of other quality wines, her favourite wine comes from the Hanwood Estate Range, which is what their head fortified winemaker enjoys when he goes fishing.
Wine tastings at the revived wine barrel at Jake McWilliam Road, Hanwood, can be booked online on the McWilliam’s website.
