Our Story

While our winery is relatively young, our story actually dates back to 1968 — the year our winemaker Sam was born — and when his dad AlanPlunkett planted the first vines in the Strathbogie Ranges.

Sam grew up in the Strathbogie Ranges on his family’s farm and got his first real taste of wine when he worked a vintage as a cellar hand at Tisdall Wines in 1986. He loved it, and in 1991, Sam returned home from Melbourne with an economics degree and a chance to make wine for his family business — Plunkett Wines.

In 2004 an opportunity to further expand Plunkett Wines came up when a large neighbouring winery came up for sale. Sam and Bron decided to partner with another family to use their combined winemaking and marketing smarts. They launched many successful brands and won numerous accolades including the Great Australian Shiraz Challenge Trophy for ‘Australia’s Best Shiraz’.

But in 2011 the partnership dissolved and they were at a crossroads about what to do next. Sam started his Master of Wine and began dreaming about how he could get his hands purple again, when something truly beautiful happened … He was inundated with love and support from people who wanted to help him make wine again. The Taresch family of Elgo Estate leased Sam space in 2012 at their winery in the Strathbogie Ranges, a number of local growers gave him some lovely fruit, and online wine retailer Naked Wines placed their first order with Sam in 2013. And with this, Wine by Sam was born.