Our Team

Briony Hoare’s interest in wine was sparked at just 15 years old when she first visited a winery. Then as a graduate winemaker in the 1990s, Briony began to weave her winemaking magic throughout the Australian winegrowing regions of Mildura, Great Western, Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, Hunter Valley and McLaren Vale.

When Briony wanted to further expand her wine world, she headed for Italy – the home of some of her favourite varieties – where she enjoyed a vintage in Piedmont, Northern Italy, working with Barbera, Dolcetto, Nebbiolo, Gavi, and Moscato varieties.

Back in Australia, a decade long winemaking stint at Southcorp saw Briony work with a multitude of grape varieties, wine styles and fellow winemakers. High profile awards and accolades followed as Briony was named Young Winemaker of the Year in 2003, and won the prestigious Jimmy Watson Trophy with the Rosemount team in the same year.

2002 saw the first Octave barrel in the back shed of Briony and Tony’s house in McLaren Vale. What started as a home brew continued to grow, doubling to two Octaves the following year.

In 2005 Briony began a wine consultancy and hatched the concept of Beach Road Wines. Just a year later, Briony and Tony’s home garage was taken over by their new venture. Today, Beach Road Wines purpose-built winery produces many different varieties and styles of wine with a focus and passion for alternative varieties and styles.

Born with a green thumb and a love of the outdoors Tony studied Horticulture at Burnley Victoria. His love of food and wine drove him to take his horticultural interest further by studying Viticulture in Adelaide.

After graduating in the 1990s Tony went on to establish Ablington Vineyard Estate in the Hunter Valley, arming him with the valuable experience of creating a vineyard from scratch. The vineyard layout reflects Tony’s eye for landscape design and sits beautifully on a prominent hill overlooking the lower Hunter wine region.

Tony was lured to McLaren Vale as Viticulturist at Wirra Wirra, where he instantly fell in love with the region, developing a great passion for the environment and sustainable viticulture.

Five years later Tony joined forces with Briony and developed Hoare Consulting where Tony designs management solutions for vineyards ranging from total vineyard management to packages designed to meet particular requirements. As an active contributors to Wine and Viticulture Journal, Tony’s knowledge of viticulture and grafting practises are second to none. Tony truly enjoys the responsibility of making a positive change in a vineyard and continues to innovate viticulture practices for Beach Road Winery and his clients.

Tony loves dirt on his hands, tending his vegie patch and orchard when not digging around in clients’ vineyards or helping Briony with the kids or in the winery.