TREADING HIS OWN PATH

Luke knew he wanted to be a winemaker when he was just 14. For this Brisbane boy who grew up with wine-appreciating parents, wine was mystery and alchemy, an ancient drink with its very own language. His dad was an engineer and showed him the value of hard work and the pride of having your own business. His mother, a florist, gave him a creative streak and a connection with the land. Above all else they instilled in him an independence and individualism that continues to drive his winemaking philosophy. 

After high school Luke headed to Europe, basing himself in London and Ireland and travelling extensively through Italy and France. He absorbed wine knowledge like a sponge and developed a taste for lighter-style wines that were unique to the places they came from. He loved the story they told of their environment. After returning to Australia and completing a winemaking degree, Luke was guided by the kinds of wines he most wanted to make. That led him to the Yarra Valley, a cool-climate region with a long history of winemaking and a progressive wine community of creative types. 

Luke got a job at Coldstream Hills, established by Australia’s leading wine writer James Halliday and known for producing outstanding and distinctive Yarra Valley wines. These were wines that Luke deeply admired and the skills he learned were invaluable. But he never wanted to follow anyone. So while working at Coldstream Hills he also began getting his own business off the ground. He worked long hours, staying up all night to make wine in his garage in the freezing cold. Many emerging winemakers make their first batches in someone else’s winery or a hired space, but Luke was determined to do it his own way. 

A STORY OF PLACE

Today, Luke’s Yarra Valley winery digs are more comfortable, but he’s still resolutely doing his own thing. Under his own wine label that takes his name, Luke is producing distinctive, thought-provoking wines that couldn’t have been made by anyone else, on any other land. He’s a master of minimalism, stripping his winemaking back to the basics. There’s no bells and whistles, no tricky techniques. Luke’s grapes are hand-picked, and his wines handcrafted, created through instinct to reflect the place they were grown and made. 

Luke’s vibrant Syrah (Shiraz) and complex Chardonnay wines are sell-out hits. So is his Nebbiolo, which has helped spark a conversation about the Italian variety’s potential to become the Yarra Valley’s next big thing. These are wines that are instantly recognisable as Luke Lambert wines. They’re the wines he always wanted to make. 

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