Kiwi winemaker Sam Connew has put down roots in Tasmania, setting up Stargazer Wines in the Coal River Valley with a mission to make non-conformist wines that express a sense of time and place.
While it takes an astute sense of smell and taste to make a great winemaker, there's no question that Samantha (Sam) Connew has an excellent nose, both literally and metaphorically. Soon to celebrate the 15th vintage of her wine label Stargazer, the New Zealand-born, Tasmania-based winemaker tells me that her career has been founded on instinct and passion. "I've just followed my nose, I suppose," she says. "A lot of it has been going in the direction of what popped up at the time."
But there's more to her career than good timing, with a list of achievements that highlight an unshakeable work ethic and a streak of gritty resilience. During her decade at Wirra Wirra in South Australia's McLaren Vale, she was named the 2007 International Red Winemaker of the Year at the International Wine Challenge and most recently, she was named the 2025 ASVO (Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology) Winemaker of the Year. Back in 2014, she became the youngest judge to serve as the Sydney Royal Wine Show's chair of judges, and the first woman to hold the position, helping to pioneer change in Australia's wine show system.
Connew grew up in Christchurch. Wine wasn't the obvious career path. For most New Zealand students in the 1990s, a job in hospitality supplemented their meagre student allowance, which, in Connew's case, was for a degree in arts and law. "Even back then, I was living beyond my means," she says with a laugh.
She worked at the now-shuttered Annies Wine Bar & Restaurant, which served a whopping 70 wines by the glass and introduced her to the joys and diversity of wine. "It was right when the New Zealand wine industry was starting to go ballistic, not just for Sauvignon Blanc, but also for the smaller producers," she recalls. "Wineries like Ata Rangi and Felton Road were becoming established around then."
She wasn't actually that keen on practising law, but it wasn't clear what the alternative would be until a post-degree trip to Adelaide. "I had access to the incredible wine regions there," she says, "which convinced me to study wine back in Christchurch."
On completion, she jumped at an invitation to work her first vintage in Oregon. "I just loved the physical part of it, dragging hoses, doing punchdowns, and the vineyard," she recalls. "It was great. That was it. I thought, 'Yes, this is what I want.' And the rest is history."
After stints in McLaren Vale and the Hunter Valley, it was while working vintage at Bay of Fires in 2012 that a half-joke of "you should start your own label" from Peter Dredge turned into a reality. Connew bought some Huon Valley Pinot Noir grapes, heralding Stargazer's first vintage in Tasmania.
Fast-forward to 2016, and increasing problems with gaining access to fruit led to a vineyard purchase in the Coal River Valley. "I moved down here at the beginning of the year and started picking at the beginning of March 2016," Connew says. "It was boots on the ground and let's get cracking." The vineyard checked all of the boxes: not too far from Hobart, not too large and with water security - essential in a region where 600mm of rain represents a good year.
The tasting room opened late last year, hosting a 10-year retrospective tasting of the Palisander Riesling and Pinot Noir that revealed a through-line of expression. "I think we've got a pretty special piece of dirt that we're taking care of in the Tea Tree sub-region in the Coal River Valley," Connew says. "The joy of having my own label is that it can reflect that site, but also reflect that year as well. We're not trying to do what Australia is renowned for, which is consistency and uniformity from vintage to vintage. We're aiming for the wines to honestly and transparently reflect the site and the vintage, and to be able to celebrate the differences each year. We're trying to be nonconformist and anti-uniformity in a way."
Stargazer might have been intended as a side project, but it has already cemented its place among the best wineries in the state.
