Local Legends: Local Weirdos Wine

The new Local Legends series is a tribute to the local businesses that provide us with the motivation and products to do what we do best here at Liberty Liquors whether it be through wines, beers, spirits, great coffee or even food! So pour yourself a drink, kick back, relax and join us as we learn more about these great companies and dive into discussions with the heart and souls that drive these Local Legends.

What better fit to kick off our first Local Legends segment than to have none other than the team over at Local Weirdo’s! We sat down with them to discuss their background, the brand, outlook and of course, their great wines. Enjoy!

LR – Matt, Charles, Sam & Dave – Local Weirdos

Liberty Liquors: Give us a bit of history on Local Weirdo’s wines and the team behind these great vinos?

Local Weirdos: Local Weirdos was Voltron’ed together from a group of like minded lads who all worked other full times jobs but shared a passion for fermentation in many of it’s various facets- but for wine in particular.

Sam was working as a winemaker out in the valley and concocting amazingly wild (for the time) skin contact Rieslings out of a qvevri (thousand litre terracotta pot from Georgia). Dave was working as an emergency doctor and ran the @lo_fi_wine instagram on the side. He tried one of Sam’s wines and they became fast friends. Sam always attended a local café called ‘Howdy’ in Bayswater where Matt- an accountant and stonks guy by trade – and Charles a seasoned coffee professional both made coffee. Matt and Charles are brothers and had a shared passion for beer/kombucha brewing long before Local Weirdos was a thing.

When Howdy was looking to shut down due to the building (supposedly) being demolished all of us decided to make a go of a wine project together and call it Local Weirdos. We found an amazing block of land out in the Swan Valley on ‘the Golden Mile’ – a stretch of dirt known for its skills in Grenache and Chenin production. Since 2019 we have been rehabilitating that overgrown block using organic principles and have been wheeling and dealing wines around town.

Liberty Liquors: What was the drive to get into the wine game together?

Local Weirdos: All of us having full times jobs was definitely a big road block to doing anything independently. Plus we all brought different skillsets to the party. Matt takes care of finances, Charles is vibes, logistics and sales. Dave says he is ‘words and promotions’ – but that’s just because he wants to use the acronym WAP in his emails and Sam is an actual winemaker – which helps a lot.

Liberty Liquors: How did you come about your site in the Swan Valley? Were there other regions considered?

Local Weirdos: Yeah we scoped out some other spots around the greater swan region. It was necessary to have something close to the city as we all live and work there (aside from Sam who works in the Valley). Nothing really stood out until we came upon Gino’s block. Gino has lived in the valley his whole life and the vineyard was used to provide fruit to Houghton’s back in the day. Eventually the Houghton’s hook up fell through and a lot of the block was left to overgrow for a number of years. Planted in 1986 it has plantings of Grenache, Chenin Blanc and Semillon. We have worked to rehab the whole vineyard back into a degree of uniformity and make it balanced yet productive using careful cuts and organic practices.

Liberty Liquors: Given the current weather, which of the Local Weirdo’s wines would you be recommending to take home?

Local Weirdos: The good thing about the wines we make are that they are all of a similar ilk. Lean, high acid, juicy with complex undercurrents. They all drink quite well in the cold (especially the reds!) but are still a vibe in the summer.

Liberty Liquors: What can we look out for from Local Weirdo’s in the coming months?

Local Weirdos: We have a big vintage 2022 release coming soon with some crazy collabs with awesome independent local businesses like Liberty’s. Keep your eyes peeled for dope wines, fun times and some interesting collab collateral.

We’d like to personally thank the Local Weirdos team and Dave for taking the time to provide our readers with great WAP about their wine culture and history. We can’t wait for their upcoming Masterclass on the 25th of August, and nor can our attendees (sold out sorry)!

You can explore the Local Weirdos wines via our website here. Alternatively drop into the store and we’d be more than obliged to run you through their vibrant range.

Santé!