Gonzalo Sánchez has been exceptionally busy since taking the reins at Lloyd Brothers in 2021. While the company was well known in South Australian wine circles – the titular Lloyd brothers are members of the same Lloyd dynasty that founded McLaren Vale trailblazers Coriole and, more recently, Dune – it wasn’t on the radar of the general wine-drinking public. A few years into Sánchez’s tenure, things have changed. “In my time at Lloyd Brothers we have transitioned from being a grape grower that made a bit of wine to now a serious estate-grown wine brand,” Sánchez says, “with all the fruit being grown for our own wines and made at our winery on our McLaren Vale Estate.”
It’s a shift that Sánchez has every right to be proud of, given the role he has played in it. “We have done a huge amount of work in the vineyards since I joined Lloyd Brothers,” he says. “Planting new blocks and plenty of top-grafting to get the mix and diversity of varieties and clones suitable for the style of wine I make.” His input has lead to the Lloyd Brothers viticultural team slashing yields in the name of fruit quality. “The most dramatic change would be in the bush-vine grenache and mourvèdre, just a few metres from the winery,” Sánchez says. “We reduced the yield by over 50%, in turn increasing the quality to a level that the wine from these blocks is now extremely well-regarded by our customers and peers alike.” The wine trade has taken notice, too: while Sánchez doesn’t talk about wine show gongs, under his direction the shelves of the estate’s trophy cabinet have started groaning.
Sánchez’s approach in the winery is cheerfully mixed. “I love making early drinking, approachable and fun wines, as well as wines that will age gracefully,” he says. “I take a fresh, modern approach to my winemaking, especially for the wines from the McLaren Vale estate.” There’s no set winemaking recipe, but he cleaves to a few basic principles. “Clean winery, don’t lose focus during vintage, and attention to detail during the rest of the year,” he says. These principles, in his words, “allow me to make wines quite traditionally with [a] very modern outcome.” His golden rule? “Have a good team in the vineyard and winery.” Simple.
“In my time at Lloyd Brothers we have transitioned from being a grape grower that made a bit of wine to now a serious estate-grown wine brand.”
He’s a proponent of McLaren Vale as a region, admiring its diversity in many senses of the term. “The diversity of geology and soil makes the region dynamic,” he says. “Our estate vineyards have a lot of diversity within them, and I need to spend a lot of time in the vineyard getting to know their characteristics to plan on what style of wine to make from each block.” The diversity under his boots is starting to be reflected in the varietal mix in the estate’s vineyard, where picpoul and nero d’avola have been planted in – “varieties that will retain acidity as our climate changes.” Then there’s the diversity of people in the Vale, to which this proud Argentinian contributes: “McLaren Vale is an open community to people from other countries,” he says. “I have made many friends in the last 10 years.”
The Vale’s warm climate makes it especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change and erratic weather patterns, and Sánchez is already versed in the unpredictability of the ‘new normal’. “2023 [was] the coolest and latest vintage on record at Lloyd Brothers, with some blocks in the Hills not ripening,” he says. “The 2025 vintage [was] one of driest and earliest on record. Both vintages had their highlights with the diversity of varieties and the two regions that our [vineyards] are located [in].” His approach to mitigating these erratic swings? “Working more with regenerative practices on the vineyard and picking more on time to keep natural freshness in the wine,” he says. “The vintage variations we have experienced over the last few years has made it very important to know exactly how each block is growing and developing during the season.”
“My personal vineyard is certified with Sustainable Winegrowing Australia, and we are in the process of having the Lloyd Brothers estate vineyards certified,” he adds. “Its means a lot to me and the community to be farming sustainably.”
While Sánchez stays connected to his home country via his Sánchez M. wine project – a collaboration with his sister, Rocio, making malbec and cabernet sauvignon based wines out of Gualtallary, Mendoza – it’s clear that this formerly restless international traveller has been in the Vale long enough to set down roots. (Literally: he and his wife, Kate, have founded a vineyard of their own here, Los Aromos, with the fruit earmarked to go into future Sánchez M. wines.) It’s clear that Sánchez loves his life here. “Living a few kilometres from the beach has a huge influence on my lifestyle, the wines I make and the McLaren Vale community in general,” he says. “We are fortunate to have great pubs and restaurants in the region creating fresh, seasonal dishes which inspires me to make wines to pair with these dishes.” Salud, Gonzalo!
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