Express Winemakers
Ryan O’Meara established his wine label in the Deep South of WA in 201. A Denmark local, O’Meara is part of the wave of young producers who focus on organic farming and producing lo-fi, naturally expressive wines of site and variety. Ryan leases and manages four small vineyards in the cool climate Great Southern sub zones of Mt Barker and Porongurup. All vineyards are on decomposed granite and are managed organically and without irrigation. Vinification is hand-wringingly minimal intervention, relying on native yeasts and bacteria for all natural ferments, minimising movement of the wine, working with neutral vessels for élevage and bottling without fining or filtration.
Ryan’s vision is to produce wines of purity and expression (where the Express part of the brand comes in). While he produces single vineyard, single variety wines that showcase what his unique pocket of the wine world can express, he is also pushing the envelope with experimental styles from Pet Nat, amber wines and blends, revealing a mixture of curiosity and confidence in his own journey as a producer.
As Mike Bennie put it, “Express Winemakers seems to nail the brief in so many styles, au naturale, but with clean lines and heaps of interest.”