South Australia's Hardys company was renowned for 1958, 1964 and 1966 Hunter Valley-McLaren Vale shiraz blends still remembered as among our greatest reds.

Over the past two decades there has been a huge increase in Hunter-based brands' production of wines from other regions.

This has been achieved by makers like Brokenwood regularly buying in grapes from Beechworth, McLaren Vale, Orange, Cowra and Canberra. And, in the case of Tyrrell's Victorian Heathcote plantings and Tamburlaine's 190-ha of Orange vines, owning vineyards beyond the Hunter.

Hungerford Hill has a fine history of multi-regional wines, reinforced in today's reviewed 2017 Hungerford Hill new releases marking 50 years since the brand was founded.

Hungerford Hill Wines began as an arm of a Wee Waa cotton producing company, which diversified into wine in 1967 by buying 400 ha of Pokolbin land from grazier Allan Hungerford. From 1968 the land on Broke and McDonalds roads was planted to 200 ha of vines, a winery (now the McGuigan Pokolbin headquarters) built, a 450,000-litre dam constructed and the Pokolbin Wine Village, motel, Cellar Restaurant and cellar door established.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, Hungerford Hill spread its wings to Coonawarra, establishing a 165-ha terra rossa vineyard, from which Ralph Fowler crafted some brilliant reds. It then set up the Buronga Hill cask wine operation near Mildura, now a vast 129,000-tonne-capacity facility owned by Australian Vintage Ltd.

The 1980s began ownership upheaval and a Monty Python Black Knight-like carve-up of Hungerford Hill empire. In 2002 the Wine Village site was sold to Bill and Imelda Roche, who have brilliantly transformed it into the Hunter Valley Garden Resort. That year the Hungerford Hill brand also gained caring and imaginative new owners in James Kirby and his family, founders of the James N. Kirby refrigeration and engineering group. They gave it an impressive home base by buying the winery, cellar door and restaurant property on the corner of Broke Road and Wine Country Drive and, under the direction of winemaker Phillip John, boosting multi-regional production.

In 2017 the Kirbys sold to hotelier and developer Sam Arnaout, who now owns the Hungerford Hill, Sweetwater Estate and Dalwood brands, with Bryan Currie as senior winemaker and general manager.

He was previously chief winemaker during 18 years at Calabria Wines then joined McWilliam's as premium labels winemaking manager.

A Charles Sturt University winemaking graduate, he came to the Arnaout group in the Hunter in 2016.

WITH brassy gold hues and pear and almond scents, the Hungerford Hill 2017 50th Anniversary Tumbarumba Chardonnay has lifted golden peach on the front palate, middle palate mango, cumquat, gunmetal and pecan nutty oak and a slatey acid finish. The wines are at hungerfordhill.com.au, the 1 Broke Rd cellar door and fine wine stores.

PRICE: $40.

DRINK WITH: quiche Lorraine.

AGEING: five years.

RATING: 5 stars

THIS cool-climate Hungerford Hill 2017 50th Anniversary Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon has 14% alcohol and is purple-tinted crimson in the glass. It has berry pastille scents and spicy blackberry front-palate flavour. The middle palate displays mulberry, licorice, peppermint chocolate and toasty oak and the finish has ferric tannins.

PRICE: $45.

DRINK WITH: veal saltimbocca.

AGEING: six years.

RATING: 4.5 stars

THE quality of the 2017 Hunter vintage is evidenced in the Hungerford Hill 2017 50th Anniversary Hunter Valley Shiraz. It has 14.5% alcohol, deep purple hues, gamey scents and rich, ripe plum front-palate flavour. Bramble jelly, cherry, cloves, dark chocolate and savoury oak meld on the middle palate and the finish has dusty tannins.

PRICE: $45.

DRINK WITH: Mongolian lamb.

AGEING: 10 years.

RATING: 5 stars