Radical Wine from the Edge
Sam Vinciullo is one of Australia's most radical and uncompromising natural winemakers — a singular figure working on the far western edge of the country, where the Indian Ocean meets ancient sandy soils. Based in Cowaramup, Margaret River, Sam farms his own vines organically with some biodynamic practices, dry-farmed and own-rooted, without herbicides or systemic chemicals. Every wine is made with zero additions: no sulfur, no cultured yeasts, no filtration, no fining, no oak. The whites are fermented on skins. The reds are hand-destemmed and basket-pressed. The result is living wine — raw, precise, saline, and electric — that has earned Sam a cult following from Perth to New York. This is not Margaret River as you know it. This is something entirely different [^30^][^34^][^36^].
From Perth Kid to Etna & Back
Sam Vinciullo grew up in Perth, Western Australia — a city isolated by desert and ocean, where the wine culture is fierce and independent. He studied winemaking at the University of Adelaide, graduating in 2005, then spent the next decade travelling the world, working in wineries across Europe and beyond. The most formative experience came on Mount Etna in Sicily, where he worked alongside Frank Cornelissen — one of the most radical natural winemakers on the planet. Cornelissen's uncompromising approach, his rejection of all additives, and his belief in the vineyard as the sole source of wine's character left a permanent mark on Sam's philosophy [^29^][^37^].
In 2014, Sam returned to his native Western Australia. In 2015, he made his first wines with grapes bought from growers working the Margaret River region. But he had a bigger vision: to farm his own vines, to control every step from soil to bottle, and to prove that radical natural wine could thrive in one of Australia's most established wine regions. A nearby vineyard owner offered Sam the vineyards — on the condition that he convert them to biodynamics and build a small, simple winery on the property. Sam accepted. The rest is history [^29^][^39^].
The early years were not easy. Sam slept in a swag on the property, built his winery by hand, and learned to farm in a region where conventional viticulture was the norm. But the wines spoke for themselves — raw, alive, and unlike anything else coming out of Margaret River. By 2020, Sam's wines were being stocked in New York, and his reputation as one of Australia's most exciting natural winemakers was firmly established [^42^].
"Sam's wines are my favourite in Western Australia. You can just taste clarity and that it is made with a light hand. You don't taste manipulation."
— The West Australian
Sandy Soils, Ocean Air & Ancient Vines
Sam Vinciullo's vineyard sits in Cowaramup, a small town in the northern reaches of Margaret River, on the traditional lands of the Wardandi people. The site is extraordinary: close enough to the Indian Ocean to feel its cooling influence, creating a beautiful microclimate that moderates the region's warmth and preserves acidity. The soils are sandy, free-draining, and ancient — perfect for dry-farming and own-rooted vines that must dig deep to survive [^30^][^36^][^49^].
Sam farms organically with some biodynamic practices. No herbicides. No systemic chemicals. The vines are dry-farmed — no irrigation — and own-rooted, meaning they sit on their own rootstock rather than grafted onto American rootstock. This is rare in Australia, where phylloxera concerns have made grafting standard practice. But the sandy soils of Cowaramup have never seen phylloxera, and Sam believes own-rooted vines express their site more directly, with a purity of flavour that grafted vines cannot match [^28^][^36^].
The vineyard is small, the production limited, and every decision is made by Sam alone. He is not just the winemaker; he is the farmer, the cellar hand, the marketer, and the delivery driver. This is artisanal wine in the truest sense — one person, one place, one vision. The vines are tended by hand, harvested by hand, and transformed into wine with nothing but time and gravity [^30^].
Cowaramup sits in the northern reaches of Margaret River, closer to the Indian Ocean than the region's more famous southern wineries. This proximity to the sea creates a unique microclimate — cooling breezes, maritime humidity, and a freshness that is rare in Western Australian wine. The sandy soils are free-draining and ancient, forcing vines to dig deep for water and nutrients.
No irrigation. No American rootstock. The vines stand on their own roots in sandy soils that have never known phylloxera. This is viticulture as it was practised for centuries — vines that must struggle, roots that must dive deep, and fruit that carries the concentrated imprint of place. It is labour-intensive and risky, but the results are unmistakable.
Sam farms organically, rejecting synthetic chemicals, herbicides, and systemic inputs. Biodynamic preparations are used to enhance soil life and vine health. The goal is not certification but vitality — vines that are resilient, soils that are alive, and wines that carry the energy of a farm in balance.
The cooling influence of the Indian Ocean is the secret weapon of Sam's site. While inland Margaret River can be warm and generous, Cowaramup's maritime position preserves acidity, moderates ripeness, and gives the wines a distinct saline freshness. It is a terroir of ocean, sand, and sun — Western Australia in a glass.
Zero Additions, Skin Contact & Living Wine
In the cellar, Sam Vinciullo's approach is as radical as his farming. All wines are produced without any additives from estate-grown grapes. No sulfur. No cultured yeasts. No enzymes. No acids. No tannins. No fining agents. No filtration. No oak. Just grapes, time, and the microorganisms that live on the fruit. These are "living wines" — raw, evolving, and electric with microbial energy [^30^][^36^].
All whites are fermented on skins — a decision that gives them texture, tannin, and a savoury complexity that sets them apart from conventional white wines. The skin contact is not a gimmick; it is a belief that white grapes have as much to say from their skins as red grapes do. The result is a range of orange and amber wines that are textural, saline, and profoundly food-friendly [^36^].
Red grapes are hand-destemmed and basket-pressed — gentle, old-school methods that extract colour and flavour without the harshness of modern machinery. Fermentation is wild and untempered. The wines are aged in neutral vessels — no new oak to mask the fruit — and bottled without filtration. They are cloudy, evolving, and alive. Some may throw sediment. All will change in the glass. This is not wine for the timid; it is wine for the curious [^32^][^35^].
From Sleeping in a Swag to Stocked in New York
Sam's journey is the classic natural wine origin story — stripped back, self-built, and driven by belief. He slept in a swag on the property while building his winery. He converted a conventional vineyard to organic and biodynamic practices by hand. He made wines that the local industry didn't understand, and found his audience first in Perth, then in Sydney, Melbourne, and eventually New York. The wines are now sought after by natural wine bars and restaurants across Australia and internationally. Sam Vinciullo has proven that radical natural wine can thrive in Margaret River — not despite the region's establishment, but because of its extraordinary terroir.
The Wild West, Bottled
Sam Vinciullo stands apart from the Australian natural wine scene geographically, philosophically, and stylistically. While the Adelaide Hills — Basket Range, Lenswood, Forest Range — has become the country's natural wine capital, Sam works alone on the opposite side of the continent, in a region known for polished Cabernet and Chardonnay. His presence in Margaret River is a provocation and a revelation: proof that this terroir, when farmed radically and made honestly, can produce something utterly unexpected [^34^][^36^].
The wines have a cult following for good reason. They are not easy; they are not polished; they are not conventional. But they are unmistakably honest — pure expressions of sandy soil, ocean air, and Sam's uncompromising hand. The clarity that critics praise is not the clarity of filtration; it is the clarity of intention. Every decision is visible in the glass: the dry-farming, the own-rooted vines, the skin contact, the zero additions. This is transparency as philosophy [^42^].
Sam is a young man proud of his work and proud of his wines. He has built something from nothing — a winery, a reputation, and a new way of thinking about Margaret River — through sheer conviction and hard labour. The future is focused on continuing to farm better, to make wine with even less intervention, and to share his vision with a growing community of drinkers who understand that the best wines are not made; they are allowed to happen [^33^].
"Pure, energetic, uncompromising natural wines from the Margaret River."
— The New York Times
The Sam Vinciullo Range
All wines are made from estate-grown, organically farmed grapes with zero additions of any kind. Hand-harvested, wild-yeast fermented, unfined, unfiltered. No sulfur, no oak, no cultured yeasts. All whites fermented on skins. Reds hand-destemmed and basket-pressed. Bottled at the winery on Wallcliffe Road. The range includes reds, whites, orange wines, and pét-nats — each one a raw, living expression of Cowaramup's sandy soils and Indian Ocean microclimate [^30^][^36^].