The Stoke Wines
After a successful inaugural three years of its Guroo Project, The Stoke Wines is excited to introduce the next esteemed winemaker to take the reins in 2022.
The Guroo Project is a fantastic initiative created by The Stoke Wines’ owner Nick Dugmore, designed to help winemakers discover Kangaroo Island as a wine region by employing experienced industry winemakers to come and develop their own relationship with not only the place, but also the people and its unique vineyard sites. The winemaker, who is a ‘guru’ of the particular variety, joins for three years, and is delivered two tonnes of grapes to the winery. They decide the picking time and whether the grapes are hand- or machine-harvested, and make all the decisions around the making of the wine according to how they believe it should be done. This winemaker has complete creative control – including the bottling date.
Dugmore named the project after Matthew Flinders’ spelling of the island, ‘Kanguroo’, a double entendre that also refers to the ‘guru’ winemakers who help to create the fantastic new range of wines by applying their expertise. Charlotte Hardy of Charlotte Dalton Wines and Stephen George of Ashton Hills Vineyard took on the first two varieties, shiraz and cabernet sauvignon from the False Cape Vineyard. This experience has given both winemakers a chance to bring a unique perspective to the island and learn about the wine region, finding extensive potential in the microclimates and varieties.
The next winemaker to join the Guroo crew is Sue Bell from Bellwether in Coonawarra, who plans to commence her winemaker role with an impressive Kangaroo Island chardonnay from the Bay of Shoals Wines vineyard.