A wine-loving friend of ours recently suggested we check out Wines by Sam in Seymour, and boy are we ever glad we did! What a cool and unexpected wine experience!
Part of what makes the Wines by Sam story so surprising is that it only started as recently as 2012 (although in the interest of full disclosure, Sam Plunkett and his family have been involved in wine for some time). Back then, husband and wife team Sam and Bron were leasing space in the Strathbogie Ranges. Three years later in 2015, they began to move into their current home (an old garment factory) in the heart of Seymour. Only six years later, what they have built thus far is something incredible. In the modern era (and particularly after COVID, trade spats w China, etc) when so many large wineries/brands are struggling and in some cases collapsing, Wines by Sam has been a sort of humble Clark Kent, transforming steadily and surely into a true hometown hero of Superman proportions. Somehow in just six years, they have assembled a huge wine facility, capable of processing over a thousand tonnes of fruit (that’s like 800,000+ bottles) annually, and now make certain wines for other renowned brands (like our beloved Ellis Wines) in addition to their own labels. Now that’s an incredible journey. Talk about flying under the radar!
For the wine lover, what makes Wines by Sam such an incredible experience is that the place offers as good of an introduction and overview to the winemaking process and how that translates into to the end product as you will ever find in one place. Led by a passionate winelover (in our case, co-proprietor and Sam’s other half, Bron), a tour here will afford one the opportunity to see wine in all the various stages of its creation. Have you ever tasted an unfined/unfiltered Pinot Noir that has only just gone through fermentation, less than a month or two off the vine? You won’t believe what the fruit tastes like before it has been tempered by age and/or oak! And the same for a brand new baby Riesling tried right out of the tank? Or have you ever tried Shirazes straight out of barrels of differing oak types? Can you identify the characteristics that Shenandoah Valley Oak imparts to a wine vs Appalachian or French oak? Have you ever tried an 80-year old Muscat (that Sam and Bron acquired just because they loved what it represents as wine history) finer than the finest Sherry? The chance to answer all these wonderful questions with a resounding “yes” is to be found under one large roof in Seymour …
If you are a true wine enthusiast, we highly recommend you pay Wines by Sam a visit. It is a wonderfully rich experience. And while you’re in the area, 20 minutes further North will put you in the heart of the Go Nagambie region where you can pay a visit to Aussie wine icons such as Tahbilk Winery and Mitchelton Wines.
Wine dreams realised such as have been achieved by Wines by Sam are full-stop #WhyWeLoveWine.
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