Lambert Wines

Luke Lambert’s wines feel as though they’ve been shaped as much by granite and weather as by human hands. A fiercely independent voice in the Yarra Valley, Lambert makes Chardonnay, Syrah and Nebbiolo of precision and purity, refusing to bow to trend or convention. His philosophy is stripped back: let the vineyard lead, keep the winemaking simple, and never lose the connection between what’s in the glass and where it came from.

Luke Lambert is one of Australia’s most instinctive winemakers, crafting Chardonnay, Syrah and Nebbiolo of precision, purity and “somewhereness” from granite-rich pockets of the Yarra Valley. His philosophy is stripped back: let the vineyard lead, keep the winemaking simple, and never lose the connection between what’s in the glass and where it came from.

Lambert’s obsession with Nebbiolo began in Europe, where the wines of Mascarello, Rinaldi and Conterno left an indelible mark. In 2008, he grafted Nebbiolo onto a parcel at Denton Vineyard, producing what is now regarded as Australia’s benchmark for the variety. But his true long game is Sparkletown — the steep, rocky amphitheatre he and partner Rosalind Hall planted exclusively to Nebbiolo in 2017. “I’d like to be able to slide a glass across the table one day and say, ‘You need to give it 20 years’,” he says.

Everything in the Lambert shed is done with intent: hand-picking, wild fermentation, long macerations, large old oak, no fining, no filtration. “We keep it simple - I probably spend 5% of my year in the winery,” Lambert says. The rest is in the vineyard, working organically and building soil health to create wines with more depth and life.

The results are compelling: mineral, taut Chardonnay; Syrah shimmering with spice and violet; Nebbiolo that marries Australian brightness with Italian structure. “I’m just trying to make something beautiful,” Lambert says - and, vintage after vintage, he does exactly that.