Sam Vinciullo Warner Glen Red/White 2017

This wine is a co-fermentation of 55% Merlot and 45% Semillon sourced from the Warner Glen vineyard in the southern reaches of Margaret River, Western Australia. The Merlot was de-stemmed and basket-pressed while the Semillon was macerated on its skins, then the two were brought together to finish fermentation. Grapes were organically grown on gravelly loam soils with north-facing slopes, situated just 6 kilometres from the Southern Ocean and 4 kilometres from the Indian Ocean.

Sam Vinciullo made this wine without pumps, temperature control, oak, fining, filtration, or added sulfites of any kind. All movement in the cellar was done by gravity or bucket. The wine was bottled directly from the lees with trapped CO2 to preserve freshness, a technique Vinciullo picked up working on Mount Etna.

The result is a wine that behaves more like a white in structure — light body, piercing acidity, minimal tannin — while expressing red fruit character from the Merlot. At 11.2% ABV it sits well below the regional norm. This was one of Sam's early purchased-fruit vintages, before he acquired his own estate in Cowaramup.