One of the most exciting new producers I tasted during my recent Barossa visit in September this year was Sami-Odi. Started in 2006 by New Zealand husband and wife team, Fraser (the winemaker) and Andy (a practicing veterinarian) McKinley, this is a straight-up tiny operation built on diligent, thoughtful winemaking that is true to both the terroir and the couple's vision. And refreshingly, these guys are not trying to be too clever with their approach, which is quite simply about taking no short-cuts and making the best possible Shiraz from a small but very great vineyard.
When Fraser first moved to the region, like many young winemakers with high quality aspirations he did a stint at Torbreck. Then in 2006 he began by looking after just 1/3 of a vineyard in the Ebeneezer sub-district of the Barossa, owned by the locally famous grower, Adrian Hoffman. It was four rows only then, all organically farmed, from a section planted in 1995. In 2007, Fraser made the first Sami-Odi wine from this fruit and expanded vineyard area and production slowly from there.
During my visit, Fraser opened for me a bottle of every wine he had ever made under the Sami-Odi label, even those very first experimental years. "In the beginning it was about not wanting to add water to wine and wanting to make light, elegant wines. But it also didn't make any sense to make anything too light and pink from the Barossa," Fraser candidly explained. "I found where I was comfortable around 2012." Those early 2007 and 2008 vintages labelled '0.354' (in reference to the vineyard size) are a little rough around the edges, while the 2008 'MCMXIIP' label made from older vines in the vineyard is far more interesting and later vintages - 2012 and 2013 in particular - more interesting still... in fact downright brilliant.
Fraser McKinley at Sami-Odi
All the Sami-Odi wines are 100% Shiraz, all from that same single vineyard, albeit a larger section of it. Fraser now manages 2.8 hectares of this Hoffman (Dalwitz) vineyard in Ebeneezer. The oldest section has vines that were planted somewhere between 1888 and 1912, the youngest was planted in 1996.
Fraser explained that he keeps the production small because he likes to be able to do everything himself. There is nothing fancy or unusual about the winemaking except perhaps the inclusion of 100% whole cluster in every year but 2008, when the grapes were hand destemmed.
Two wines are now released each year: a "vintaged" wine and a blend of vintages called "Little Wine". The vintaged wine is composed of the best barrels and the NV is a blend of three vintages. 2011 was the catalyst for making a "second" wine - "Little Wine" - as Fraser declassified the fruit that year opting not to make a vintaged wine. From 2008, each year the vintage Shiraz release is given a new name and label. The non-vintage "Little Wine" label continues to be a blend of vintages from declassified lots that don't make the cut for the Sami-Odi vintage wine.
Given the vineyard size and ancient age of some of the vines, as you may guess yields and production are very small and were especially small in 2014. 2014 and 2013 were heavily frosted. 2013 produced yields for Fraser of just 11 hl/ha and 2014 was a minuscule 5.7 hl/ha. Therefore, in 2014 Fraser produced just 250 cases of the Sami-Odi 'XIV' Shiraz.
After my visit, it occurred to me to email Fraser and ask him what the rather unusual Sami-Odi name meant. Here was his reply:
"The name 'Sami-Odi' is derived from a series of found objects - in a similar way that Marcel Duchamp used found objects in his collection of 'Readymades'. It is a name that means little to most but has plenty of substance for my wife Andy and I. 'Sami' is derived from a small wooden boat that Andy shot (she is a skilled yet humble photographer) whilst we were travelling across the southern coast of Turkey in 2001, in Üçagiz to be exact. 'ODI' is the title chapter of an antique book printed on beautifully stained and worn paper that we found strewn across an old table in a Roman market the same year. It appealed to me as many of the pages contained little or no text which leant plenty of space for me to sketch and draw as we travelled (see the 2009 label which includes a 'detail' sketch of the Museo del Prado in Madrid). Both the 'Sami' photo and images sketched on 'ODI' paper have adorned the walls of our numerous kitchens and living rooms over the last 14 years and are a constant reminder of our journey thus far and where this turn in our lives began."