Sam Vinciullo
Cowaramup - Margaret River
Sam spent time making wine in Australia and all over Europe before settling in Sicily on Mount Etna. Here he worked with Frank Cornellisen among others before embarking on his own project which sadly fell through. In 2014 he returned to his native Western Australia (he grew up in Perth) and in 2015 made his first wines with grapes he bought from growers working the way he wanted (without herbicides and systemic chemicals and dry farmed where possible). This is how he worked for the harvests of 2015, 2016 and 2017.
In early 2017 Sam took on the lease of a farm in Cowaramup. The farm totals around 6.5ha of vines that had been worked conventionally and 75% was irrigated. He immediately stopped the use of herbicides etc. and stopped irrigating. He suspects that the irrigation system never actually worked properly as the vines did not suffer at all when the system was removed. The 6.5ha are made up of different plots of Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. All the vines are “Own Rooted” i.e. un-grafted. The youngest of them are 21 years old and the oldest around 35 years, they are spur pruned on trellises.
This part of Australia is incredibly hot and does not benefit from much rain though Sam says Cowaramup gets more rain than elsewhere. The coast is not far and has a cooling effect as far as that goes! The soils here are some of the oldest formations and the majority of Sam’s plantings are on predominantly sandy soils with varying amounts of gravel. More gravel/ ironstone rocks towards the top of the slopes. There are patches of sandy loam in the lower parts of the Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc. Sam’s farm is made up of 4 plots:
1) the smallest is planted around the winery on sandier soils, mostly Shiraz
2) The Valley plot – a NE facing slope with a forest on the top. At the bottom is the Chenin and Chardonnay on sandier soil. Higher up is the Shiraz which has never been irrigated and then at the top are 4 rows of Cabernet Sauvignon on ironstone rock.
3) The Big Block – this is where most of the Sauvignon Blanc is and some Cabernet Sauvignon.
4) The Driveway Block – East facing and planted with Chenin Blanc and Shiraz, more quartz elements.
Vineyard Work – for 2018 Sam did all the vineyard work himself. He is a control freak. He doesn’t use and copper in treatments but does use Sulphur and Potassium Bicarbonate. The main pests he has are weevils and birds. Lots of rye grass and clover grow in the vineyards which he cuts for green compost and also it helps keep moisture in the soil – the wind in the area really dries the soil out.
Winemaking – Broadly speaking all of the grapes are destemmed and go into big open-topped plastic fermenters that Sam seals tightly. All movement is done by gravity or bucket – he does not use a pump! Reds are macerated for as much as 2 weeks and the whites for a week or so on the skins. He does all plunging by hand. After pressing with his basket press the wines are not moved at all so are bottled from the lees with a bit of gas. He degorges the tanks before bottling by simply opening the bottom tap and letting it out til it runs clear. NO OAK for any of the wines.
Sam’s wines defy all logic. They are fresh and unbelievably drinkable, nodding at wines from the region yet doing something totally different. I can’t get enough of these.
R.H
