Adrian & Rebecca Santolin
Australia
A true winemaker love story
Years Angel-funded: 2013-18
- Boy (Adrian) meets Girl (Rebecca) are a young couple, both passionate about wine. Adrian is the winemaker extraordinaire with over 15 years experience & Rebecca, the marketer extraordinaire, both live, breathe and love wine!
- For over 10 years, their dream was to one day make their own wine - fast forward to the present and they're now finally living that dream thanks to a kickstart from Angels. These days, they own and operate Santolin winery and make loads of wines for Angels in Australia.
- Taking a more European-styled approach to their stunning Yarra Valley wines, they love making anything a little funky, a little left of field and a little bit creative.
Vineyard Location
Adrian & Rebecca Santolin's Story
"Boy (Adrian) Meets Girl (Rebecca) began in 1999 when we first met and dreamt of one day making our own wine. Fast forward to the present and we're finally living that dream with thanks to the Naked Angels who have helped make it a reality. This wine is dedicated to you!
We've tried to create what we think is the best wine from a selection of varieties, taking a more European styled approach to the process. Our aim was to recreate great moments from our past which will hopefully inspire you to create your own great moments in the future.
The company structure is pretty simple, there's Adrian - winemaker extraordinaire, who has worked in some amazing wineries in world renowned wine regions such as the Hunter Valley and Yarra Valley in Australia and the Franciacorta region in Northern Italy, and there's Rebecca Santolin - wife of Adrian and wine marketer extraordinaire who has worked with some of Australia's most well-known wine brands including Four Sisters and De Bortoli Wines.
Adrian's beginnings in the wine industry started at the age of 14 when, during school holidays he would help his dad at the local winery for a little extra cash. Born in Australia to Italian parents, Adrian was fully immersed in his family's Italian culture growing up and wine, of course played a big of that heritage.
Moving to the Hunter Valley in 2003 saw Adrian's beginnings as a winemaker. He started working at De Bortoli Wines' newly purchased winery in the Hunter Valley as a trainee winemaker and within two years, had worked his way up to assistant winemaker. During his time there the wines he helped make won many various awards including a Trophy at the 2005 Decanter World Wine Awards for the 2004 De Bortoli Hunter Valley Semillon.
In 2006 he and (now wife) Rebecca took a 6 month working holiday to London and Italy, where Adrian spent the 2006 vintage working as the head winemaker of a family owned winery and vineyard in the Franciacorta region of Northern Italy.
His move to the stunning Yarra Valley region of Victoria in 2007 saw him, over the next 5 years work at various wineries and vineyards gaining extensive knowledge of Pinot Noir production and vineyard management techniques for the grape he had so grown to admire and respect. He'd fallen in love with Yarra Valley Pinot and there was no turning back.
His fascination for the Yarra Valley region, which he saw could produce some of the most amazingly delicate, truly sensational flavour packed fruit was growing at a rapid rate and could only ever lead to one thing wanting to one day make his own. In Feb 2012, with the help of his wife (behind every good man right..!) they took a leap of faith and turned their dreams into a reality."
