Robin Akhurst

The Path

Formal study at Lincoln University gave Robin Akhurst the base, then the trade opened up in service and retail: as sommelier at a restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland, and later as wine merchant at an independent wine merchant in London, England. It is a route that trains a winemaker to read vintage, site, and timing across different regions, and to work with the practical demands each one sets. From those seasons came movement into production leadership: director of the production team at Envy Wines and assistant winemaker at Carter Cellars. Robin Akhurst is today winemaker of Swanson Vineyards (since 2015) and winemaker of Clos Pegase Winery (since 2015), a dual role that draws on the same progression from harvest work into the longer responsibility of estate winemaking.

The Work Today

The role now rests on experience gathered across service, retail, harvest, production leadership, assistant winemaking, and estate winemaking. In Robin Akhurst’s case, the line runs through those different parts of the trade without breaking: the cellar, the vineyard, and the sales floor each inform the next. The work reads as cumulative rather than abrupt, with the vineyard and cellar remaining places of ongoing learning while the job shifts toward shaping finished wines and carrying a house style forward. Robin Akhurst’s signature work includes the 2013 Swanson Vineyards Merlot, described as a great vintage made from two vineyards, handpicked fruit, cold soak, and 18 months in oak. Those are the working details that define the wine: two vineyards brought together, fruit picked by hand, cold soak used for extraction, and a full 18 months in oak. The range also includes the 2012 Las Madres Vineyard Syrah for Apsara Cellars and the 2017 Blanc de Noirs, his first release at Paula Kornell Sparkling Wine, each showing a different side of the same craft.

Signature

Robin Akhurst’s signature wines include 2013 Swanson Vineyards Merlot, 2012 Las Madres Vineyard Syrah, and 2012 Sauvignon Blanc. Taken together, they show range across red and white, with attention to structure, freshness, richness, and restraint.

In Their Words “An interest soon became a passion which fortunately became my career.”

Acclaim

"An interest soon became a passion which fortunately became my career," Robin Akhurst has said, a compact summary of a path that moved from Lincoln University into service, retail, and harvest work across several wine regions. The remark fits a career that has carried Akhurst through Edinburgh, London, Provence, Marlborough, Burgundy, Barossa Valley, Howell Mountain, and into the ongoing work at Swanson Vineyards and Clos Pegase Winery (since 2015).