“We set out to change Australian wine and we did it,” said Tom Shobbrook, the thoughtful, sincere winemaker who with his friends Anton, James and Sam created the Natural Selection Theory project. The wines were experimental, made with no additives other than words and music. And as I looked around the wine fair, in an old depot, I knew he was correct in saying they succeeded. The Australian wine revolution had happened, and their voice is Rootstock.
Rootstock first surfaced in 2013 as the idea of madman, wine importer, wine bar owner Giorgio De Maria. He hoodwinked buddy James Hird into joining him. They nabbed some friends and there you go—a rollicking, informal, intense, food nightclub, protest march of a wine fair.