Sam Wigan was born in the Barossa into a winemaking family. He worked his first Vintage with his father in the Barossa at Peter Lehmann Wines in 2000. He then travelled to the Sonoma Valley in California to work a northern hemisphere vintage that same year.
With two vintages under his belt, he was inspired to study winemaking and enrolled at Charles Sturt University to study Oenology. Serendipitously, there was a winemaking traineeship being offered at Yalumba, and he was offered a six month contract during the 2001 harvest. Later that year he was offered a permanent position.
As Sam studied over the next six years he would work in many facets of wine production including the cellar, laboratory, vineyards and even a season at the nursery grafting vines. On completion of his studies he naturally transitioned into a winemaking position and has never looked back.
Always looking to increase his knowledge Sam has worked vintages in New Zealand, France and Spain during his winemaking career; keen to explore the wine regions of the world and different winemaking techniques.
Sam loves working with the traditional Barossa varieties such as Shiraz, Grenache and Riesling while enjoying the challenge of experimenting with newer styles and varieties such as Verdejo, Vermentino and Tempranillo. One of Sam’s other passions is food, with which he explores the art of wine and food matching.
