NOTE: This Shiraz is being released under our new brand 'I. AM.'. It is a mainland off shoot of Stoke which highlights the importance of soil health and encourages consumers to think about the objective aspect that is the soil, to trust their gut when they invest in wine, and to think about the future health of themselves and the planet. A McLaren Vale Grenache is being released later this year, and a Southern Fleurieu Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Baco Noir will all be released in the future. These wines are very limited so please join the mailing list so you don't miss out. 

For me, cancer led to the discovery of my true purpose in life. I attribute this purpose to how well my healing journey went. I have been so excited and driven by it that I would go as far to say my illness was a gift, a spiritual awakening that I feel in a way privileged to have had only half way through my life. 

We live in an Australian wine region amongst lush green vines within kilometres of sandy white beaches with turquoise water. There are huge native trees lining the roads and birds so loud that sometimes you have to wait until they pass before you can continue your conversation. I am so grateful for this haven but like many things became immune to it and unfortunately it had pulled the wool over my privileged eyes. Before cancer my goal in life was to grow Kangaroo Island as a wine region. I strongly believe in its ability to grow premium quality fruit unique in its own right and perfect for making high quality wine. I quickly realised that this was such a short sighted and hollow pursuit. In a way now, I believe that all regional development pursuits are. Regions are, at the end of the day, a human concept. I understand the biological differences that regionality expresses, and that this is the theory behind defining the areas but putting these ‘barriers’ up creates competitiveness and unfortunately leads to an inflation of the ego. Ego is a survival tool that enabled the human race to evolve the way it has but it is not necessary in our industry.

Before the ‘Hacking the Future’ project started I was becoming obsessed with regenerative agriculture so you can imagine the excitement in my bones, and the massive relief, when Inkwell announced they were the first vineyard in Australia to be Regenerative Organic Certified. I say relief because it provided me with an incredible feeling of hope at a pretty fragile time in my treatment. We applied and I was in my fourth week of radiotherapy when I found out we were one of the producers chosen for the project. Our assistant winemaker and I cheered, and I cried and we just got so fucking fired up.      

The definition of culture is the manifestation of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. And when relating to biology it is the attempt to maintain conditions suitable for growth. The wine industry is the toughest it has ever been. It feels flat and seems as though change is so desperately needed but fear of change or changing, or being different, or maybe ego, is a roadblock to progress. Regenerative agriculture is the solution to the challenge we and the human race are faced with. Unfortunately, it was only through suffering that my eyes were opened to the importance of soil health. Regenerative practices do not just focus on soil health but encompass and encourage growth on multiple different levels. Culture is the reason people drink wine. It’s the reason (controversially, probably) I don’t put wine in the alcohol category. ‘Drugs and alcohol’……and wine. Culture is why I am addicted to this industry. Culture is the reason why this project exists and culture is the future of Australian wine.

I hadn’t met Dudley and Irina before the project but I knew their hearts were in the right place because of what they were pursuing on their farm. Whether you drink their wine or not, they care about you because what any of us growers do to the soil we farm affects you directly. With a team, I have hand-picked approximately 120 tonnes of grapes in my career and you can tell when you are picking grapes from a place that really cares about what they do because there is an energy within the pickers. The day we picked our Inkwell shiraz there was an energy within the team. It was a hot day but it was cool and fresh in the vineyard. There were birds’ nests and lizards and spiders and all the good things. It was loud with the sound of insects and bugs, and most importantly it was loud with the chatter and laughter of young people from all over the world. It was as it should be, alive with culture.

With a pick and purpose like this the energy carries through to the winery and ultimately the wine. With this in mind we used some very subtle winemaking techniques to ensure the efforts in the vineyard were expressed in their truest form. We picked 50 kilograms 4 days prior to the main harvest and used a French technique called ‘pied du cuve’ to ensure a healthy start for the native yeast. The remainder was hand-picked and destemmed but not crushed. The pied du cuve was ticking away nicely by this time and was tipped over the destemmed grapes. We tipped it on top so the CO2 immediately protects the main portion from oxidation during the ‘lag phase’ of the ferment and the fruit character is preserved. We then allow the native yeast to build over the next two days and simply ‘wet the cap’ with 2 buckets of juice siphoned out and poured over the top. We then plunged twice a day for 4 days until the bé was around 3-4 when we went back to just wetting the cap. We did this so to avoid over extraction from the seeds as the alcohol increased. We pressed it directly to tank and allowed it to finish ferment. The intention was not to put it to oak, however the malic acid was high and it seemed the wine needed the micro-ox of a puncheon barrel to help it through and soften the mouthfeel with some lees stirring (3 times over 3 weeks). Post malo and some time in barrel it still seemed tight on the palate. Considering the earlier release date we added 10 litres of lees from some pinot noir barrels we had racked. This didn’t affect it aromatically but helped to soften the palate to what you see now. It spent 6 and a half months in oak before being racked, sulphured and settled for bottling.   

The wine tastes as it should. It tastes of this beautiful imaginary area called Mclaren Vale. It is alive and well. It tastes of the geology of the Inkwell Vineyard because the custodians of that land care about biology. We didn’t need to hack anything. The hacking had already been done, so thank you Dudley and Irina for allowing us to be a part of the future. 

Soil health is a lot like mental health in that you can’t see it. Even with the backing of science you have to use your imagination. Imagination cops a battering though. If you don’t use your imagination then you’re accused of being sheltered or narrow minded. If you imagine too much you might get shot. Imagine life without imagination, I couldn’t. My imagination normally benefits me. During my healing journey I was imagining a world without cancer. But that might be like surfing without sharks, too easy, and maybe we would get complacent. The weird thing is, despite cancer and the myriad of chronic health issues, we are complacent. The soil is our CEO and if we are to grow it won’t be from the top down it’s from the feet up. I now imagine a world that treats it soil regeneratively and culture is at the forefront.