Letting The Vineyard Speak
Sandro Mosele is our inaugural Winemaker of the Month - fitting, since he was also our first Wine of the Week when Cinderella began over a year ago. In this candid chat, Sandro tells us how he selected his site, letting the vineyard speak for itself and his exciting upcoming releases.
Sandro couldn’t pinpoint a particular moment when he discovered his love for wine. It was something that was always around through his childhood - drinking a bottle around the family dining table, picking fresh grapes and tasting the juice. Making wine was a family activity, just as much as homemade passata or salami.
Now, Sandro has been working in the industry for decades, including eleven years at Kooyong and Port Phillip Estate. Inspired by Burgundian traditions, Sandro believes that the future of Australian wine won’t be determined by winemaking, but by viticulture. He created Elanto in 2018 with that mission in mind.
Elanto Vineyard
Sandro created Elanto with a vision. “We bought the land specifically for viticulture. So there were certain things that it needed to tick.” Among these checklist items were volcanic soils, a cooler site to slow ripening and an easterly slope (although settling for southeasterly ended up as a hidden blessing), and a commitment to Mornington as a region.
So why the high-density?
“I wanted to do it because it was so obvious to me that the improvement in Australian wine was going to come from viticulture, not from wine making. We’re already pretty good at wine making. There's a lot of very talented and well equipped winemakers in Australia. But they were working with normal density vineyards and I always felt that the vineyard was where the big benefits were going to come from in quality.”
That prioritisation of viticulture extends into his winemaking practice - letting the vineyard speak for itself.
“I experimented a lot in the old days. I don't do that now. I think as I've learned more about the culture and the vines and the fruit, to me it's become important to allow the vineyard to do what it needs to do… just having natural ferments and allowing things to follow the path they wanted to. And hopefully that would enable the site to express itself more clearly.”
Elanto Vineyard
Across all of Sandro’s responses, there is a common thread - a love of all that is local, authentic and unique. His dream holiday? Italy, a place that feels like home. His drink of choice on vacation? Whatever is made in that area, especially in Europe where food and wine culture are deeply intertwined.
So when we asked him what he thinks needs more love, his answer was a fitting one - independence and uniqueness. Across all kinds of business, including wine, Sandro wants to see more individuals and families “doing their own unique thing.”
Coming Soon from Sandro - Two New Pinot Noirs launching in September.
Out of 14 parcels of Pinot Noir, these two are the very best, sitting side by side on the best two plots of land. Sandro explains it simply: “It makes very compelling wine that I was just not prepared to blend away. So I've kept it separate.”
That won’t be all you’ll see of Sandro in the near future! Sign up below to hear about upcoming events and releases from Elanto, as well as future Winemaker chats.
