These days, Sam is head winemaker at the family-run Watkins wine label at Chandlers Hill.  The range of Watkins wines are made with fruit from their well-established vineyards at Langhorne Creek and the Adelaide Hills.

Sam says his career, which has taken him from large wineries to small boutique operations around Australia and in other countries, has been driven by a deep interest in learning about a variety of styles and ways to make wine.

“Throughout my experiences, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a heap of different parcels of fruit, in terms of variety and region, but also I’ve worked with some great mentors who’ve taught me so much about making wine and also about career and life,” he says.

“My highlights would be connections with people I’ve made from all over the world, or some inspirational people close to home, and getting to share some amazing bottles of wine with them.  I think they’ve very much shaped the way that I want our cellar to be run, and hopefully that goes on to positively impact others starting out in the wine industry.”

Sam says he enjoys crafting approachable, medium-weight, fruit-driven driven wines that still speak to a place.

“Wine, for me, should be about having fun and enjoying what you’re drinking with friends and family, so I like to make wines that are easy to approach and not just have a glass, but finish a bottle with mates,” he says.

“Making wines that are fruit driven provides the easiest way to convey the vineyard and that sense of place, which can be an amazing way to tell a story and introduce someone to a place that may be on the other side of the world from them.”

Sam believes our ability to embrace new ideas coupled with the diversity of the grapes we can grow and wines we can produce all helps make Australian wine unique on the world stage.

“We are such a young wine-producing country on a global stage but we’ve made up for so much lost time through the way we work in the industry,” he says.

“It’s full of people who are not just open to, but enthusiastic, about trying new things whether that be a new variety in a region, making wines in a new way, or a new style of wine.

“We’ve tried so many different things, some of them don’t work and the power of market forces leaves them behind, but we’ve created some amazing styles from different regions that stand up to heavyweights on the global stage.”

Sam also acknowledges Australia’s diverse wine styles, particularly in regions where a variety of microclimates and soil types allow for a wide range of grape varieties to be cultivated within a compact area.

“Looking at the Fleurieu Peninsula alone, it’s about 140km in length, the same length as Bordeaux from Medoc to the end of Entre-Deux-Mers, and in that space we’re able to grow everything from great Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to big, robust Grenache and Mourvèdre,” he says.

Sam is a strong believer in giving back to the wine industry and has volunteered with the Langhorne Creek Wine Region in various positions for the past 9 years.   He’s participated as an associate judge in Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale, Clare, Adelaide Hills and Royal Adelaide Wine Show.

Sam completed the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) level 3 in 2017,  received the Wayne Thomas scholarship in McLaren Vale and participated in the Advanced Wine Assessment Course. He completed the WSET Diploma in 2022/23.

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