The trifecta: Why La Prova's Sam Scott chose to focus on Italian varieties

La Prova winemaker Sam Scott didn’t necessarily set out to focus exclusively on Italian varieties. But for someone who’d grown up in a family where good food and wine was “part of life,” the attraction was obvious. 

That family, who Sam calls “a long line of wine enthusiasts” (his grandfather “always had a bottle by his left leg, and he’d go, ‘right, try this’,” he says, and his great-grandfather worked in the Penfolds cellars under Max Schubert), fostered his love of wine and hospitality. 

He began his career in bottle shops before moving into sales and distribution. In 2000, he became hooked on the “craziness and hectic pace” of vintage after a harvest at Tatachilla in McLaren Vale, which, as well as a lot more vintage work, eventually led to him studying winemaking at Lincoln University in Canterbury, New Zealand. 

Sam Scott at the La Prova cellar door in Hahndorf.

Sam was managing winery and vineyard operations for Adelaide Hills winery Bird in Hand in 2006 under Kym Milne MW when he came across the Amadio vineyard in Kersbrook, planted to a range of Italian varieties, including fiano and sangiovese. 

“These were wines that I really was interested in and loved to drink myself, especially medium-bodied, food-friendly reds,” he says. “I thought, there's not that many people doing these.” 

When he launched La Prova in 2012, he’d already been making chardonnay and shiraz under his eponymous Scott Wines label since 2009. “But the traction for Italian varieties domestically was so good, it was so exciting and was just growing really quickly.” So, about five years later, “I thought, look, it's a bit of a luxury having two brands, it's confusing. So, I went, right, let's just focus on one thing."

The La Prova range.

Sangiovese is the hero of the La Prova range, which also includes prosecco, pinot grigio, fiano, an aglianico-based rosé, and nebbiolo. When the vintage “planets line up,” premium, single-site bottlings are produced under the La Prova Uno banner. 

In Italian, ‘la prova’ can mean ‘the experiment’ or ‘the trial’, and it’s been Sam’s goal over the years to figure out where in Australia these varieties grow best. That’s seen him source fruit from the Riverland, Langhorne Creek, the Barossa, McLaren Vale, and even Victoria’s King Valley. The prosecco still comes from King Valley, but since 2022 the rest has come solely from the Hills. 

“We're making wines for Aussie tables, Aussie lifestyles,” Sam says. “Italian varieties are delicious. They grow really well here in our vineyards, and people like drinking them. That's the trifecta, isn't it?"

The La Prova Cellar Door is open on the first weekend of every month at 102 Main Street, Hahndorf, SA. Book via the La Prova website.

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