When small is not just beautiful but brilliant too....

We talk a lot at Aussie Vintners about working with small family run businesses, but what does that actually mean? Family owned is one thing, but when you’re a husband and wife team doing everything from hand picking grapes and hand stirring barrels all the way to the sales, marketing and cellar door operation then I reckon that would qualify as a family RUN business. Add in bringing up a couple of daughters under the age of 12, and it’s a miracle that Zoe and Mikey have time to make one, let alone the 7 fabulous cuvées of utterly stunning wine that they do.

We wanted to share a bit more about Sawyer Wines, so you can fall in love with them as much as we have done, and so we spent a while chatting with them both.

The first thing you notice always about Mikey and Zoe is how unbelievably passionate, committed and hard working they are. If the above precis didn’t make you tired then you are probably one of those annoying people who only need a couple of hours sleep a night.

Over 20 years ago Mikey started learning his craft across the world at wineries in the Rhone, in Washington State and then returning back to Australia where he embarked on a number of winemaker roles at a host of different top estates across Victoria and South Australia.

In the vintage of 2018 though, a lifelong dream to create their own wines came to fruition, with a lot of family advice (of course) and the creation of Sawyer Wines. They anchored it at their amazing home in Balhannah in the Adelaide Hills which is one of the most beautiful regions in South Australia - think Kent (on a great day) meets Tuscany (on a normal day)…

Mikey’s approach to winemaking he describes as holistic rather than going in for any jazzy buzz words. He simply takes it back to nature - allowing the native flora and fauna to do to the soil what it has been doing for millennia - trusting in the fact that the incredible richness and depth of the soil was good enough in the first place. It extends to composting on site and rather than spraying the vineyards with pesticides or other non natural methods, why not enlist the kids and their mates to pick the snails off the vines and then relocate them elsewhere! Check out the recent haul below that the girls and their pals dragged in!

All the wines are hand picked and processed on site, the whites and rose allowed a little skin contact in the press. All the whites are held on solids for 9-12 months and barrel stirred monthly (by hand) for a more balanced and deeper flavour - and also why their wines are so damn good with food!

The reds get 12-24 months on oak - but with absolutely minimal new oak, and what they do use is only French - these wines are about the incredible fruit from the Hills and not some mash up of over extraction and new oak vanilla. Mikey doesn’t say it, but the soil only goes so far - the huge talent involved in creating wines of this quality shouldn’t be overlooked.

We have been totally taken by the incredible elegance of the Chardonnay (recently rave reviewed here), the smooth power of the Shiraz, the stone fruit summer freshness of the Pinot Gris, and coming very soon a light, bright and gorgeously silky Sangiovese.

The world is made just a little better with the unbelievable hard work of Zoe and Mikey and we are proud to stock their wines. The only issue we have is getting enough of it, as the quantities are unbelievably limited to just over 100-150 cases of each cuvée. We are absolutely convinced Mikey’s wines will end up with a cult following. People are already starting to notice with the awards starting to roll in and recently their Pinot Meunier and Sangioveses featured in the top 6 wines in Australia in their classes.

Being their exclusive importer does have its advantages though and we have secured extra stock of the now completely sold out 2022 Chardonnay and the glorious 2021 Shiraz (our best selling wine in fact).

Both still available for the original cost, as is the Pinot Gris - or pick and mix and we can send you a selection (watch this space for the Sangiovese landing any day now). Just reply to the email and we’ll do the rest if you don’t fancy heading onto the website!

Sawyer 2022 Adelaide Hills Chardonnay, £150/6 Sawyer 2021 Adelaide Hills Shiraz, £186/6 Sawyer 2022 Adelaide Hills Pinot Gris £114/6