We’re delighted to welcome a new Australian producer to our portfolio. Robin Naylor, Product Manager for the New World, tells us more about this exciting addition. 

Soumah of the Yarra Valley Vineyards

Soumah of the Yarra Valley is a relatively recent producer to the Yarra Valley wine scene, founded by Australian hotelier Brett Butcher on the higher hills of the Yarra’s Gruyere district and introduced to Boutinot by co-collaborator at Soumah, Steve Worley, who is responsible for much of Soumah’s purpose, clonal choices, labels, style and is the font of all knowledge on this personal project.

The focus is on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, alongside plantings of Nebbiolo, Marzemino, Savagnin and others. Viticulture here employs lutte raisonnée and verges on the obsessive in terms of clonal selection, experimentation and fastidious canopy management, all which allow Soumah to bring in perfectly expressive fruit with exacting analyses. The wines are shaped by winemaker Scott McCarthy, whose horizontal demeanour belies these marvellously pure, chiselled offerings!

Winemaker Scott McCarthy in the vineyard

Soumah (pronounced “so-ma”) struck me as an amazing discovery in terms of their outstanding balance of Australian joy harnessed by Old World finesse. The Chardonnays and Pinot Noir are amongst the most compelling, energetic and vital we have ever listed from the southern hemisphere, the Savagnin a quirky delight, and it was with some sadness that we turned down other of their wines for the time-being. My notes from a visit to their stormy, sheep-strewn vineyards in June 2022  end with “just love these..  can’t seem to put my glass down..”

The Soumah line up

We’ve introduced 2 Chardonnays, 2 Pinot Noir and the fascinating Savagnin, all in the UK now.