St Agnes Distillery celebrates 100 years
CityMag sits down with St Agnes Distillery managing director Richard Angove to discuss the secret to maintaining a successful operation and bringing brandy into the Gen Z sphere.
St Agnes Distillery, best known for its brandy, is celebrating its 100th distilling season this year, being Australia’s oldest family-run distillery.
Originating in Renmark in South Australia’s Riverland, the centenarian company is now run by the fifth generation of its founding Angove family.
Managing director Richard Angove tells CityMag the secret to maintaining a successful operation is “patience and a real pursuit of quality and excellence”.
“We’ve always had a long-term view of the business”, Richard says.
“Making brandy takes time. There are no shortcuts. It’s not like gin, which you can make today and sell tomorrow.”
This long-term thinking is needed in the brandy game, as Richard says that “we’re putting it in the barrel with the understanding that it might not be sold until 2055”.
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Richard runs the brand alongside his two sisters, Victoria and Sophie, which is vital for the longevity of the company.
“Sometimes we can make decisions that might not make sense today, but they will in 30 years’ time,” he says.
Part of the St Agnes Distillery offering. This picture: supplied.
St Agnes maintains the traditional processes used by the founding owner, Carl Angove, in the 1900s.
“Over the last 100 years, we’ve always made our brandy the same way – double distilled in a copper pot still,” Richard says.
Cutting is a process of brandy distilling where the ‘head’ and ‘tail’ portions are discarded leaving the most flavoursome ‘heart’ for drinking. While many distillers automate this process, Richard says cutting is “still all done by people” at St Agnes.
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When asked why they have refused to computerise the distilling process, Richard says “quality.”
“I think the human factor decides quality rather than a number or a computer program… there is a mixture of art and science involved in making a really good quality spirit,” he says.
As brandy falls out of style among younger audiences, Richard says the brand has been “reinvigorating the category”.
They’ve done this by collaborating with a group of ten Melbourne mixologists to create their Bartender’s Cut.
St Agnes offers a range of brandies at differing price points as Richard says “there’s no doubt there’s a cost-of-living crisis and people are looking at where they’re spending their money”.
“People that would once upon a time buy a 15-year-old [brandy] might buy our Bartender’s Cut [priced at $90],” he says.
Looking ahead to the next 100 years, Richard says “we want to keep doing what we’re doing and continue to introduce new consumers to South Australia’s greatest spirit”.
To celebrate the milestone, the distillery is set to host a series of events around Adelaide and Renmark as a part of the Tasting Australia festival in May.
Events include a masterclass where the public will be given an opportunity to taste the oldest bottled spirit in Australia, the ultra-rare St Agnes XXO 50 Year Old Exceptional Reserve.
St Agnes has won titles in both national and international competitions like Champion Australian Distiller at the Melbourne Royal Australian Distilled Spirits Awards, Best Distilled Spirit at the Royal Sydney and more.