Crafting uniquely Yarra Valley wine

After growing up on a farm in New South Wales, where her parents also planted grapevines, Sarah scored a three-month gig at De Bortoli in her last year of a Wine Science degree. That was in 2003 and she never left.

De Bortoli is one of the top wineries and biggest vineyard estates in Victoria’s Yarra Valley wine region. Its acclaimed wines run from refined to a little bit rogue – from elegant Pinot Noir and Syrah (Shiraz) to a more rustic Gamay.

“What I enjoy about working with De Bortoli is the family history,” says Sarah. “They’re a family, they’re real people. They want to hand the company on to the next generation in a better state than they got it. So there’s always this drive to improve and push boundaries.”

These days, a lot of Australian winemakers are striving to make wines that reflect the unique characteristics of their vineyard and region. De Bortoli was one of the earlier wineries to do this, with Sarah – alongside chief winemaker Steve Webber – taking an approach that’s hands-on in the vineyard and hands-off in the winery.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is that in the last 10 or 15 years, I think we’ve created wines that do actually look like they come from our vineyards, that they come from a place,” says Sarah. “That’s not easy; there’s a lot of challenges.”

Sarah’s wines are inspired by the diverse, cool-climate Yarra Valley wine region, but also wineries and winemakers around the world. Over the years she’s worked vintages in Italy, Germany and the US. But she’s proudly an Australian winemaker.

“In Australia, our wines are made our way,” she says. “We’re not trying to emulate anyone else. Sure we have global benchmarks. But we’re identifying with our vineyards and our soil.”

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