Sam Vinciullo Red 2018

Mainly Shiraz with some Cabernet Sauvignon. Sam Vinciullo, with only a couple of vintages under his own label, is already making some of the most exciting wines in Australia. After working in California and then in Italy for years, Sam returned home to Margaret River in Western Australia to work on his own in 2014. Recently, Sam began leasing property of his own complete with a small winery and seven hectares of planted vines: though the vineyards have been farmed organically for years, Sam is going a step further, and is currently in the process of converting the vineyard to what he calls “progressive farming,” including practices like replacing sulfur sprays in the vineyard with seaweed and compost spray and building small chicken coops that can be moved around the vineyard for compost and insect management. This classic Aussie red blend is Shiraz from all of Sam's plots with some Cabernet from his Driveway plot which is east facing and has a lot of quartz in it. The vines are un-grafted and like all of Sam's wines this sees no new oak. It is a wine that is inky and deep, but with a touch of freshness that makes it unbelievably drinkable. This is definitely new school Australian wine from a must-watch producer and it shows why we love Sam's wines so much.