PROUD HERITAGE

AS CUSTODIANS OF THE LAND FOR MORE THAN 170 YEARS, THE ANGAS FAMILY HAS BUILT A FARM WITH THE FUTURE IN MIND.

HUTTON VALE FARM lies just outside Angaston, in the rolling countryside of South Australia’s Barossa Valley. The long dusty drive weaves through paddocks studded with ancient red gums and grazing sheep, finally delivering you to a cluster of old stone buildings. It’s where the Angas family has been farming for 170 years, with sixth-generation Jan and John Angas at the helm of this 800-hectare property, once part of a larger holding settled by George Fife Angas in the 1840s. Jan appears at the door of the barn — the headquarters of the many enterprises going on here — with working dogs Missy, Alfie and Mack at her heels. “Lindsay Park was the original holding; the office was at Collingrove and Hutton Vale was the working farm where the manager lived. This building was built for the farm animals,” she explains. Each generation of the Angas family has adapted the farm to the times, and the current generations, which includes Jan and John’s children, Suzi, Caitlin and Stuart, are no exception. With its ethical approach and respect for the land, Hutton Vale is renowned for its fine merino wool, free-range lamb and pork, artisan food products and boutique wines. Tourism, with award-winning fly-in tours, accommodation and food events, is now another arm to the family business. These stone walls are supported by huge tree trunks and heavy sawn beams. Inside there’s still an old copper for boiling molasses for the horses, timber saddle racks, a chaff cutter and blacksmith tools, plus metal bits and bobs. But on one wall of the old grain room that’s now a kitchen, pantry shelves are lined with Hutton Vale Farm preserves, pickles and condiments. A long table is set up under the low-beamed ceiling for dinners, lunches and events that Jan and John host, while underground is the cellar door for the farm’s wines: shiraz, riesling, grenache and cabernet. “Our functions are totally tailored to the event,” Jan says, “and we also offer tastings of our wine and food that we grow.” Outside in the stone-walled courtyards that once penned farm animals, there’s more seating under a vine-clad arbour, plus vegetable gardens with an array of produce that finds its way onto the tables, or is preserved in some way. “We farm lamb, pigs, ducks and chickens for ourselves, too,” Jan says. Originally from Adelaide, Jan trained to be an interior designer. “Really, it was my marriage to John that brought me here,” she reflects. “John was at school with my brother; that’s how we met. I knew about wine in the Barossa but didn’t know it had such a rich food heritage, too, and that just blew me away. Then we had the privilege of a mentorship with John’s father, Colin, who took us on a long journey of custodianship of the land with stories of the past and visions of the future. We had the good advice of lessons learnt.” Producing their own food on the farm is a way of life and, when she first arrived, Jan happily took over the role of cooking for the shearers. “My mother-in-law didn’t like cooking but I loved it, so I sent down brain and walnut sandwiches for their smoko — the shed went quiet. Then, for lunch, I sent down a lamb-shank casserole. Back then, lamb shanks were meant for the dogs, so it was considered outrageous. My husband said there was a bit of concern!” But when Jan went down to the shed herself, she started talking with all the shearers. “They told me about their families and their cooking; a lot of them did nose-to-tail back then. Every family member had a job and something to do.” Jan and John began adding value to the farm in 1990 after a bumper crop of pears from 100-year-old trees. “We bottled, dried, pickled and preserved,” Jan says. “Then we set up a stall at a local farmers’ market and got a lot of interest — and that was the beginning. It was a great learning curve and gave us the knowledge about how else to add value— we had a vineyard, sheep and wool, too.” Their first wine release was in 1999 from vines taken as cuttings from the originals planted by John’s grandfather. “Next, we added a small flock of white Suffolk merino cross sheep and sold the meat at the market,” says Jan. “After 13 years, we had such demand from restaurants that we could no longer do the farmers’ market.” John and Jan’s adult children are all involved in the running of the farm. “All three sit down with us and help make decisions for the future,” explains Jan. Suzi, 35, is currently overseas, while Caitlin, 33, lives on the farm with her family: “She works with lambs, chickens and ducks, and does the liaising with restaurants.” Stuart, 29, is a project manager and recreational pilot who has initiated another arm to the family business. “As well as helping us think things through, he’s introduced new things, such as an airstrip which is accessible for tourism,” says Jan. “Guests can fly in, we can lend them a car and they can stay here, or do high-end tours, run by The Tailor. We also do farm tours, show people what we do in the vineyard, tell them the wool story and walk them though the livestock.” The tours are being recognised, too: last year, Hutton Vale and respected vineyard Henschke — the Angas’s neighbours — won the South Australian Best of Wine Tourism Award in the Innovative Wine Tourism Experiences category. Jan has also recently been one of the drivers behind a new product exclusive to the Barossa. “It’s a blanket made from Barossa-grown merino, and is a shared vision between local wool growers and the Australian Wool Network,” she says. “Marnie Gilder [a Barossa artist] has done the design. It’s a character preserve of the region.” Each Angas family member is skilled in making the Hutton Vale enterprises work efficiently; Jan and John are masters of multi-tasking. “It’s our responsibility to leave this farm in as good, if not better, condition for the next generation,” she says. “If you’re custodians, it’s never about what you take from the land, but what you put into it. That’s our moral compass.” For information on Hutton Vale Farm’s tours, events, wines, produce and accommodation, telephone (08) 8564 8270 or visit huttonvale.com.au