Why it matters
The producer
Dan Piwko-Graham studied enology and viticulture at Charles Sturt University before working vintages in Central Otago, Canada, Portugal, Hermitage and Barolo. He launched Sigurd in 2012, joined RedHeads Wines in 2014, and left in 2017 to give the label his full attention; the result is a South Australian range that moves between single-variety wines and blends rather than following one fixed formula.
Marta joined in 2020 and runs business development, partnerships, exports, marketing, finance, design, logistics and operations. That division leaves Dan with the winemaking lead, while the bottles carry a broader family project than the solo label he began.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Sigurd is associated with the Barossa but works across several South Australian growing areas. Barossa, Riverland, Adelaide Hills and Clare Valley each enter the sourcing picture, allowing a Grenache-led red, a six-grape blend and Clare Valley Chenin Blanc to sit naturally in the same range.
That spread matters in the glass. A Clare Valley Chenin can bring lemon, quince and firm acidity, while the Grenache and red blend make room for red fruit, darker berry fruit, spice and tannin. The label is therefore best understood through the origin stated on each bottle rather than through a single regional shorthand.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Sigurd picks fruit earlier, uses native yeasts and works with small portions of whole bunch where appropriate. Earlier harvests preserve acidity, while whole bunch can bring aromatic lift and tannin; together, those choices help explain the crunchy feel of the 2022 Grenache and the grip in the 2023 Red Blend.
The cellar also moves between stainless steel and oak, from 2,500-litre foudres to smaller barriques. Large old wood can let fruit and texture develop without an overt oak flavour, while smaller vessels offer more contact; the Grenache’s progression from old hogsheads to an old foudre is a clear example. The wines are not fined or filtered, and receive a small sulfur addition at bottling, leaving texture and sediment-related character intact rather than stripping the wine for a highly processed finish.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range has two useful lanes: varietal wines that foreground a grape and source, and blends that build flavour through combination. The 2022 Grenache is 97% Grenache and 3% Cinsault; old oak gives it time to build texture while wild raspberry, savoury fruit, crunchy acidity and soft, focused tannin keep the body light on its feet.
The 2023 Red Blend layers Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Mourvèdre, Lagrein and Cabernet Sauvignon. Whole-bunch, carbonic and destemmed open-vat fermentations bring different fruit and tannin shapes into the same wine, producing cherry, forest berry, mulberry, blackberry, cinnamon, star anise and clove over a silky palate with fine-grained grip.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Choose the 2024 Chenin Blanc. It joins a Clare Valley vineyard more than 60 years old to natural fermentation on full lees, full malolactic fermentation, oak ageing until June 2025 and a final three months in stainless steel. Lemon, golden apple, quince, honey, nutmeg and cashew butter fill out the palate, but brined citrus and chalky acidity keep the body firm and the finish dry. It shows how Sigurd uses a specific grape and vineyard source, then changes its texture through cellar time rather than masking it with oak.