Quatro Mustachios - Sussex - UK
At the Brighton Natural Wine Fair, I had the opportunity to taste some exceptional wines, including the debut UK vintage from the innovative duo, Sam Bunker and Dave Haynes of Quatro Mustachios.
Sam and Dave first crossed paths while studying at Plumpton College, where the class of 2017 proved to be a particularly fruitful year for winemakers. Fellow classmates included Alex from Titch Hill, Sophie Evans, and Lucy Chilvers. Together, Sam and Dave embarked on a winemaking journey, officially launching their international wine collective, Quatro Mustachios, in 2020.
The first UK releases from Quatro Mustachios came in 2022, made without any additions. These wines were crafted using fruit from a 50-year-old vineyard in Somerset, which had been grown almost wild and unsprayed for three years, for their Pet Nat. Additional varieties came from a nearby vineyard in East Sussex, where the grapes grow on clay over sandstone.
Sam and Dave’s work with Quatro Mustachios is a testament to their dedication to exploring the potential of hybrids and PIWI varieties, and the debut UK vintage marks a significant milestone in their journey.
Before forming the collective, the pair had been gaining experience working at vineyards across Europe. They joined forces with the third and fourth "Mustachios" – Teo Vitsas and Matthias Altmann – to produce the first collaborative wine under the Quatro Mustachios label. This wine, made in Matthias' cellar in Austria, was a co-ferment of hybrid grape varieties, inspired by Dave's passion for PIWI wines. Their efforts were recognized with a Silver medal at the PIWI International Wine Award, an encouraging sign that they were on the right path.
In the following year, while working in Spain, Sam and Dave produced two more wines, sourced from the vineyards of Catalunya and Ribeira Sacra. But it was upon returning to the UK that they truly began to hone in on their shared love for hybrids and PIWI varieties.