It’s A Wrap!

Oh, what a crazy year it has been! It feels good to reach the end and reflect on all that has been. Although we were forced to close our cellar door and restaurant for six months across the two lockdowns in Victoria, we had fantastic support from online sales – in particular, from our loyal Members. We would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who continued to support SOUMAH and buy our wine throughout 2020.

While the doors were closed, we were able to keep our team together and working. It was all hands-on deck, and, rumour has it that Chef Paul now knows how to drive a tractor! We continued to care for our vineyard, manage our export market, fulfill customer orders, and even experienced a record wholesale season.

A New Landmark

The next time you drive down Skye Road towards Soumah, look for our new welcome gates! Inspired by the Burgundy tradition where it is common practice to install vineyard gates — not for necessity but to celebrate the terroir and rejoice the soil — we have installed our own homage to the land.

The High Achievers

At this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards, the world’s largest and most influential wine competition where 56 countries submitted 16,518 wines for judging by 116 top wine experts including Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers. Of the wines tasted, only 50 received the highly sought ‘Best in Show’ accolade, six of these were Australian. We were thrilled to learn our 2018 Equilibrio Chardonnay was one of those six, receiving Platinum status and 97 Points. Buy online here.

Covid did not put a halt on wine tasting throughout 2020! Our 2019 Single Vineyard Viognier was reviewed extensively by some of our favourite local wine experts — read the most recent review from Mike Bennie for Wine Business Magazine below. Also, be sure to visit our website to catch up on all the latest reviews and purchase this excellent vintage here.

“Pitch-perfect midway point between oily and minerally Viognier styles, with a foot in each camp showcasing slick texture and a spine of salty-flinty mineral character through the apricot and apple fruit characters. Lots of perfume, a sense of generosity there, then a puckering tightness finishes flavours. Excellent expression. 94 Points.” ~ Wine Business Magazine/Mike Bennie, November 2020 [2019 Vintage]

Other wines that received 94 Points or above in 2020 include:

• • 2018 Single Vineyard Savarro
  • 2018 Single Vineyard Chardonnay, Hexham
  • 2018 Single Vineyard Chardonnay, Upper Ngumby
  • 2018 Single Vineyard Syrah
  • 2017 Single Vineyard Nebbiolo
  • 2018 The Butcher

New On The Block

This November, we released our deliciously sticky and sweet 2020 Botrytis Viognier. This wine came to be in the late summer of 2020 which was quite wet. Due to the susceptibility of Botrytis in Viognier, the grey mould began to develop on some bunches before the crop was ripe. We decided to run with the natural development, leaving the crop to hang out and allow the mould to take hold, shriveling the grapes and intensifying the sugar content. We then handpicked the fruit and fermented the juice in stainless steel before transferring to barrel for eight months prior to bottling. Lay out the cheese board or indulge in a char-grilled stone fruit dessert, and Botrytis will take the taste buds just that little bit further into heaven!

We are extremely excited to share the upcoming release of our limited production (only 1000 bottles) of our Wild Savagnin Solero #1 in February 2021. This is a wine made with much thought and care. We implemented rudimentary techniques from with minimal intervention, as well as a Solero system of laying vintage over vintage. We are left with a wine with the trademark linear citrus line, but it is fused with the brooding flavours of age-old tradition. Some call it ‘wine with funk’; we love it for its structure, depth, and wild ancient origins. The initial release will be Member only with a maximum purchase of three bottles.

And now onto Vintage 2021…