Sam Rush

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Sam Rush is a Tasmanian winemaker whose Rush Wines label – launched from the 2021 vintage and made in the Tamar Valley – makes small-batch, site-driven pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot gris from carefully selected vineyards, including a block of pinot noir in Rosevears that Rush leases and farms himself. The approach is wild fermentation, no fining, minimal filtration and a winemaker whose instinct is to let the fruit carry the wine rather than the cellar impose a shape on it. Rush Wines sits in the precise, cool-climate tradition that Tasmania does better than almost anywhere – unpretentious, fruit-forward and built to reflect the island honestly.

Sam Rush started with forensic chemistry and ended up in wine – the detour, as it turned out, made perfect sense. Both involve close attention, careful process, and the understanding that small decisions compound into significant outcomes. Rush Wines, launched in 2021, is his Tamar Valley project: small-batch, site-driven pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot gris made with minimal intervention, wild fermentation and a clear commitment to letting the fruit speak for the place it came from. The label’s fingerprint logo is no accident – Rush’s hands are on every decision, from the vineyard to the bottle, and he puts his name on it in the most literal sense.

The road to Tasmania wound through hospitality, then a forensic chemistry degree at UTS, then the realisation that winemaking offered something his career path hadn’t: something tangible to create. “I never really thought of myself as a creative person, but making wine from scratch changed that,” he says. He completed his first vintage at Oakvale Wines in the Hunter Valley in 2015, then spent four and a half years as assistant winemaker at Margan Family Wines while completing a Masters in Viticulture and Oenology at Charles Sturt University. A vintage at Schramsberg and Davies in Napa Valley in 2017 broadened his thinking on sparkling and cool-climate technique. Tasmania came calling in 2019 – via a vintage with Stefano Lubiana – and he never really left. Roles at Delamere, Tamar Ridge/Devil’s Corner, Pipers Brook and Utzinger Wines followed, giving him a rounded understanding of the valley across both vineyard and winery. Rush Wines launched from the 2021 vintage with a pinot gris and pinot noir. In 2023 he took the next step, leasing a small pinot noir vineyard in Rosevears planted to clones 114, 115 and MV6, now in its third year under his management.

That vineyard – at Plovers Rest on Rosevears Drive – has become the heart of the pinot noir program. The vines are over 20 years old, and three years of intentional work are showing in the glass. “The concentration in the Pinot Noir has lifted beautifully,” he says. “It’s a very rewarding experience to see how thoughtful vineyard decisions translate directly into what you taste.” Shoot thinning, soft pruning, fruit thinning when the season demands – the approach is measured and cumulative. “Practices like these might seem subtle on their own, but together they’ve made a noticeable difference in what comes off the vines.” The chardonnay comes from Swinging Gate Vineyard, whole-bunch pressed and barrel-fermented – a non-negotiable in Rush’s winemaking philosophy. “Barrel fermentation is the key to achieving real harmony in the wine. When the fruit, the oak, the natural acidity, and the ferment characters all evolve together in barrel, they integrate in a way that just doesn’t happen otherwise.”

The pinot gris takes a different path – six days on skins, or pulled off as soon as fermentation kicks in, whichever comes first. Skin-contact fermentation means the juice remains in contact with the grape skins after pressing, extracting colour, texture and tannin; the timing here is critical. “That allows enough phenolic extraction to build texture and colour without drifting into harder seed tannin,” he says. “The moment you push beyond that window, the wine can lose its gentle, aromatic charm.” The pinot noir is left unsulphured over winter, allowing colour to stabilise naturally while preserving freshness. Maximum free sulphur across the range is 30mg/L. No fining, minimal filtration.

The Tamar Valley appealed partly for its cool-climate foundations – the natural acidity, the long growing season, the lean soils that encourage concentration – and partly because it still feels like a region writing its own story. “There’s a sense of openness here, space for fresh ideas and new voices as the area continues to carve out its identity,” he says. Having come from the Hunter Valley, where the effects of a warming climate are increasingly stark, the move to Tasmania was also partly a hedge against an uncertain future. “Being based in a cool-climate region is not something I take for granted, but it does provide us with a level of privilege when it comes to growing fruit and producing high-quality wines.” He’s not complacent about it: future-proofing the vineyard, exploring other varieties better suited to warmer conditions, and staying nimble are all part of the thinking.

The longer-term plan is a tiered range – a more premium tier drawn from select barrels alongside the core lineup – and eventually a small estate vineyard and cellar door. For now, Rush Wines is exactly what the name suggests: one person, one region, putting their name on every bottle.

Sam Rush

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