Fine
Wine.
Good
Times.
Sam and Dave met whilst studying Wine Science at Charles Sturt University.
It was love at first sight, or something like that, and they immediately concocted plans to take over the universe. Or at least buy a few grapes and make some wine of their own.
Daves background was in importing wine. Extensive trips around the globe, trying thousands of wines, talking to winemakers and helping out at vintage informed his ideas about wine making. Sam, being one of Australia's premier Viticulturists, helping farmers grow grapes in regions from South Australia to New South Wales, had an intimate knowledge of terroir right across the country. From the ground up he could see first hand what grew well, when, where and why.
Over many nights "studying" the great wines of the world they realised they had the same ideas about what wine is and what they wanted to make and drink.
It was obvious that the most important aspect of winemaking is having the best fruit. It's a common trope that most of the works is done in the vineyard and it's up to the winemaker not to ‘fuck’ it up. Having Sam's connections across the country meant they had access to some of the best fruit Australia has to offer. Not tied down with a vineyard of their own, they were able to pick the best of each season, with all the variances in weather and natural disasters, and only make wine from fruit that Sam deemed excellent. It also meant ample opportunities to experiment and try new varieties.
The second part of the philosophy is that in countries with long wine histories, the best wine to drink is nearly always the wine from WHERE you happen to be. Wine, like everything, evolves with the place it is made with the culture, the people, the climate, the food and a million other things, all uniquely suited to that place. With Australia being relatively new to the wine game it didn't seem to fit this observation, with a reputation for big and bold wines that are not especially suited to our ‘coastal’ lifestyle.
Keeping this in mind, the boys started experimenting with different varieties and different winemaking techniques to create wines for the here and the now. Wines suited to how they lived & all those things that make ‘us’ what we are.
Lighter, fresher styles of wines suited to our laidback, coastal lifestyles and smorgasboard of foods. Wines to drink with mates by the beach or with family at the local takeaway.
The name From Sunday Winemakers came from one of their first experiments. Sourcing Pinot Gris from a high altitude vineyard in Orange that Sam worked with they decided to split the parcel into three parts and make three wines. A "normal" pinot gris, a skin contact and a carbonic macerated version. There is an old expression to "do something three ways from sunday" which means to try things lot's of different ways and experiment with lots of possibilities. Not wanting to go down the traditional route of naming the wine after a vineyard or themselves the name seemed to be a perfect fit. A guiding principle of always trying new ways to achieve the perfect wine for right here, right now.