Wild Winds

James-Paul Marin has been making and growing award-winning wines as an employee of various wineries for more than 20 years – he was on the Scarpantoni winemaking team when it won the Jimmy Watson Trophy in '07 – and has worked vintage in France, Italy, New Zealand and throughout Australia. He describes McLaren Vale as his native wine region, and so when he went out on his own (in '15) it was McLaren Vale that he turned to as his main source of fruit. It wasn't until '21, though, that he bought a small parcel of land in Shoalhaven (now called Wild Winds) on the south coast of NSW, and promptly planted shiraz and chardonnay. He continues to source grapes from Blewitt Springs in McLaren Vale as this home vineyard in Shoalhaven develops. -CAMPBELL MATTINSON