Konpira Maru

Sam Cook and Alastair Reed are two blokes committed to doing things their own way. A wine merchant and a wine educator respectively, they set up Konpira Maru back in 2014 with the aim of sourcing fruit from unknonwn vineyards across Australia and making the kinds of wines they wanted to drink, but didn't know existed.

Their vineyard sources stretch from Melbourne to Murgon in NSW for this idiosyncratic project. The wines are made without additions, naturally fermented, sent to bottle straight from whatever vessel they hang out in for a spell. Bucket science and good times. Quarry Ridge vineyard in Kilmore,

There are zero boundaries at Konpira Maru, whether that's with winemaking, blending or indeed naming the wines themselves.

The Icarus Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2017 is a real risk reward wine for us. Making a Cabernet, especially one from one of the coolest climate vineyards on mainland Victoria is fraught with danger. However, the epic hang-time the berries get in Kilmore, nearly 9 months, means green aromatics are rare and a nice balanced Cabernet can be produced. With this one we co-fermented the two varieties after a 7 day cold soak, and then it was left to macerate for 10 days following primary ferment. The wine showed epic quinine and blueberry throughout ferment and they are still in evidence now but less pronounced, just one part of what is a really delicious wine. Really happy with how this one turned out.

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