Sam Wigan

2001 – Present, Hill Smith Family Estates, Current role - Senior Winemaker

Duties

• Crafting award winning white, rosé and red wines from the Barossa, Wrattonbully and Riverland.
• Responsible for oak stocks, including purchasing of barrels and staves for the cooperage and cork purchasing company wide.
• Curating the Yalumba Museum.
• Managing the winemaker responsible for Barossa and Southeast red wines.
• Promotional work, dinners, tastings, masterclasses.

Achievements

• Diversified the oak within our cooperage to use single forest wood that has helped to lift the quality of our barrel offerings while simultaneously reducing costs by seeking out alternative suppliers.
• Established external relationships to increase the value of our used barrels, from $40/barrel, to now $125-$250/barrel. Over the past 3 years I have had used barrel sales in excess of $600k.
• Finalist in the Young guns of wine 2012
• Multiple Trophies and Gold medals across the portfolio of wines I craft.
• Leading interdepartmental tastings and improving relationships between those departments.
• Working my way from a cellar hand to Senior winemaker in Australia's oldest family owned winery.

Worked in the cellar for the harvest period across all areas of fruit processing.

worked closely with the Winemaker to not only learn from her, but to offer support and knowledge from my experience.

Working across the whole winery process, from harvesting grapes to fruit receivals and fermentation management.

I was also lucky enough to be able to work directly with the winemaker and was allowed to make a wine over the harvest period.

Working in the Cellar as a leading hand. Working in the white processing area, taking care of fruit receivals, juice and fermentation.

Working as a Cellar hand primarily in the red fermentation area.

Resposible for temps and baumes, general lab analysis and maturity results of the grapes.