MEET THE MAKER
Talking all things wine with Sarah Pidgeon, winemaker at Wynns Coonawarra Estate
Tell us a little bit about your journey and how you started in the wine industry.
While I didn’t come from a wine family background, I just loved the idea of winemaking. I enrolled at Roseworthy in South Australia, where I was one of the youngest people studying winemaking. I came to Coonawarra as a young winemaker and fell in love with the region, the terra rossa soil and with Wynns, where I have worked since 1998. I love living in such a beautiful region surrounded by people who love food, wine and travel.
I have never looked back.
Is there anyone in the industry you particularly admire or who has been a role model for you?
I’ve worked alongside Wynns senior winemaker Sue Hodder for over two decades – she has taught me a lot. Pam Dunsford, Australia’s first female winemaker, is also a good friend and mentor, as well as Sheryl Henriks, who helped me immensely early on in my career.
What does your day-to-day look like?
My day is very different depending on the time of the year. Right now we’re in the middle of vintage, so we’re tasting our beautiful cabernets every morning to make critical decisions about each of the ferments, as the first seven days of a wine’s life are the most important. We taste a lot during vintage and the plans for the whole winery are informed by these tastings. At other times of year, when the wines are more settled, we don’t have to taste them as frequently. However, we keep an eye on how they are maturing in the bottle.
Which varietal do you think is underrated?
At Wynns, we’re famous for our cabernets but not many people know how beautiful Coonawarra shiraz can be in a cool-climate aromatic style. We have a new style of shiraz made with a touch of riesling that we have just launched as part of our new Reframed tier of wines. We’ve kept this wine un-oaked and an early-release style to completely focus on the fruit aromatics and spices.
What is your favourite wine from Wynns range?
Wynns Black Label Cabernet is absolutely my favourite wine – one that I love making and one that I love drinking. It has beautiful classic Coonawarra cabernet brightness, aromatics, and a lovely supple tannin mouthfeel. It’s great young, and as a 10-year-old wine it’s amazing. The Black Label Cabernets we’re making at the moment are as good as any in the wine’s 68-year history. But I’ve also been enjoying our new Wynns Reframed Cabernet Franc Cabernet Sauvignon blend recently, which is fresh and perfumed with a lovely savoury element to the palate – it’s a very different expression of what Coonawarra is capable of.
What advice would you give to people who want to get into the winemaking world?
Living in remote regions like Coonawarra that are far from the city is absolutely worth it – you get to build deep connections to the soil, the land and the community. So be prepared to live in the region and really immerse yourself in it, rather than trying to commute from the city. What is your most memorable wine experience?
When I was studying at Roseworthy, a group of students pooled some money to try some benchmark wines. Someone bought the 1988 Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet and I’d never tried such an amazing and classic cabernet before. It was the first real wine from Coonawarra that I’d had the opportunity to try and it inspired me to want to work here.
When you’re all wined out, what’s your go-to drink?
I love an oolong tea, not too strong and with no milk or sugar, just delicate and refreshing. I also don’t mind a gin-and-tonic. I’ve got too many gin bottles on the go!