Konpira Maru started, as many great ideas do, from two mates, Sam Cook and Alastair Reed, having a beer at the pub. Sam was studying viticulture and wine making at Melbourne’s NMIT and happened upon one Dr. Alastair Reed (yes, he prefers everyone knows he is a doctor). Doc Al was Sam’s newest lecturer in the wildly entertaining botony course, a new breed of lecturer for the course with youth, enthusiasm and knowledge on his side. After spending time as a lecturer, Alastair sought to spearhead a more practical and experienced based degree. This ideology was eventually shut down; after years of trying to fight the educational bureaucracy, the old guard finally defeated him in his quest for change and he decided to leave his post of mentoring some of Australia’s best new wave producers. Sam finished the degree years before Alastair left the picture at NMIT and was lucky enough to get Al in his prime with some wild field trips, afternoon de-briefs in his office over a few beers (yes he had a well-stocked beer fridge under his desk), winery BBQs, house parties, bar crawls, etc. Needless to say, a really strong teacher-student relationship was built.

After finishing university, Sam moved to London to work in the retail and sales trade, expanding his knowledge and palate. It was really a great experience, though he missed the vineyards and weather. Sam returned home and caught up with Alastair over a beer. At the time Sam was working retail in Melbourne and Alastair was still in charge of the degree course. They were both shocked at how little wine was available in the style they enjoyed drinking and – equally important – at a reasonable price. It was that simple, really. Right then and there, they decided to make a wine to fill this gap in the market. Minimal intervention, characterful, unique, drinkable and at an accessible price point: that was the mission.