Grape expectations: Alpha Box and Dice head winemaker Sam Berketa embraces home state’s diversity

Despite having worked in wine regions in the US, Italy and Germany, Alpha Box and Dice head winemaker Sam Berketa says SA has it all when it comes to crafting a future in the industry.

He’s worked in some of the most renowned wine regions around the world, but Sam Berketa reckons there’s really no place like home.

The Alpha Box and Dice head winemaker has enjoyed stints interstate and overseas – including Italy, Germany and the US – but has been a part of the McLaren Vale winery since 2016.

Now 32, the Pembroke School and University of Adelaide winemaking graduate was always driven to return to SA. “I love it here and I love making wine here,” he says. “We produce some of the most fantastic wines in the world in South Australia. Our diversity is the key – we’re able to make shiraz and grenache and some of the more Mediterranean varieties, plus cooler climate options like pinot noir and chardonnay. Having that flexibility is incredible – there’s not many places like that in the world.”

For Berketa – who also spent some of his formative years in the Yarra Valley (at Mac Forbes Winery) and Mornington Peninsula (Quealy Winemakers) – being able to draw from other regions and vintners has been beneficial. “Every person you work with gives you your own little techniques and ways to do things a bit better,” he says. “And every place I’ve worked has shaped my winemaking philosophy.”

Alpha Box & Dice head wine maker Sam Berketa. Picture: Roy Van Der Vegt

Originally joining the small-scale Alpha Box and Dice as assistant winemaker, Berketa had the top job just two weeks later. “When I got here the winemaker basically said, ‘I’m going back to two days a week and you can be operational winemaker’. So that was a fairly amazing opportunity to take on – to be head winemaker at the age of 26.”

He believes South Australia stacks up well from a global winemaking perspective. “We’re still relatively young in the winemaking world, having only produced wine for 100 years or so compared to the many hundreds of years in other places,” he notes. “So we’re still finding our way a little bit but that also gives us the opportunity to experiment a lot more and create some interesting styles of wine.

“That’s one of the things that excites me about being a winemaker in South Australia – we’re not bound by rules and restrictions that other places in the world are.”

And there are pathways for people keen to get into the industry. “Whether it’s working for others, starting your own label or making your own wine, there’s a lot of opportunity in South Australia.”