150 Red Hill Road, Red Hill VIC
Photo Credit Dom Cherry
Terrific vineyards, surf beaches and a close proximity to Melbourne means the Mornington Peninsula is the perfect home for Polperro and Even Keel wine, Sam Coverdale and his family. Through his technical grounding and experience, Sam has developed a strong sense of the wine he loves to drink and make – wine that plays to the strengths of particular regions and vineyards and true to a sense of place.
Sam established Even Keel in 2006 with a vision to create drinkable, elegant wines that surprise and celebrate the individual strengths of Australia’s wine regions. Since 2009, he has specialised in premium, single-vineyard wines from the Mornington Peninsula, under the Polperro label. The basis is towards increased vineyard health focusing on organic and biodynamic principles.
Sam said, “Sustainability is at the core of the vineyard management, with a light and delicate touch. Our foundational undertaking is to nurture our land and increase soil capacity, life and fertility through ecologically respectful, organic, no-till, regenerative farming practices.
“We promote soil health through minimal disturbance, reducing the impact on the land by not unnecessarily disturbing the natural soil structure. With the use of biodynamics, we encourage our soil web to thrive and create balance and fertility within our soils. We strongly believe this is the key to regenerative farming and farming for the future.
“Our Talland Hill vineyard is Certified Organic & Biodynamic through NASAA (National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia). We are well underway to achieving for certification across all of our owned vineyards.
“We are winegrowers with a deep love and care for the land. We make, grow and farm our vineyards using a philosophy of sustainability and regenerative agricultural.
“How we achieve this is by using a mix of biological, biodynamic and organic practices,” he said. “We achieved organic and biodynamic certification at Polperro in 2019.”
Recreate Gayan Pieris' signature recipe -
Macadamia Pan Rolls with warrigal greens & kakadu plum chutney
on P.200 in the 2024 edition of Flavours of Australia.
Flavours of Australia
- 92 signature recipes from top Aussie Chefs
- 200 stories about the best chefs and places to eat and drink around Australia
Read the stories of some of Australia's most decorated chefs & rediscover some of our oldest family institutions. Recreate your favourite meals at home & relive your most memorable food experiences with signature recipes from our most coveted restaurants & identities.