Hamiltons Wines

Alongside the Marion Swimming Centre on Oaklands Road, the vines are older than all the vines in Paris. Frank Hamilton planted the Marion Vineyard there in 1905. Magill Estate in the east didn't come along until 1935. The Parisians replanted in 1947 after the original vines became a casualty of Nazi occupation during World War II. A small vineyard appeared in Melbourne in 1952.

Those dates make the vineyard in the middle of Marion almost certainly the oldest urban vineyard in the world. That’s the way it should be for three reasons:· Henry Hamilton planted the first vineyards in South Australia just down the road in the winter of 1838.· Marion was known as the garden of Adelaide before the postwar building boom took its toll. Almonds, fruit, vegetables and olives for export and city tables grew alongside the vines.· Heritage preserved. The Marion Vineyard was heading for the fast food wasteland before the residents stepped in to save it in the early '90s, and a modern day Hamilton was only too happy to help. The Council-owned, four-hectare vineyard is a living, wine-producing reminder of Marion's proud agricultural past.

Each year under the guidance of Dr. Richard Hamilton of Richard Hamilton Wines at McLaren Vale, it produces up to 300 cases of Hamilton Ewell Reserve Marion Vineyard Grenache/Shiraz in totally organic conditions. It is no token vintage, and is also sold in England and Singapore. It was named among Australia's top 100 Wines by Adelaide wine critic, Phillip White several years ago. The wine is only a small part of the company's business but Richard Hamilton is very keen to keep it going because it maintains the Hamilton family's relationship with their origins in Marion.