In 1968, a little known funk and soul outfit called The Winstons recorded ‘Amen Brother’. In the middle of the song, the drummer, Greg Coleman, plays a short solo, or drum break. This 6 second, 4 bar piece of drumming genius is known as The Amen Break. The Amen Break has become the most sampled drumbeat in musical history. It has been used by a huge diversity of artists, and is considered the foundation rhythmic beat for much of the electronic musical genre that exploded in the late 80’s and early 90s of last century.The Amen Break wines, setup by brothers Matt and Steve Harrop, have been making (sound) waves of their own lately. Quarry Ridge Vineyard is planted on the site of an old bluestone quarry, 550m above sea level near Kilmore, 100km north of Melbourne in the beautiful Victorian Highlands. These vines are now nearing 30 years old, and produce a small crop of concentrated fruit each year. This is a cold place, so crops must be low and farming must be exact. Picking is done when acidity, sugar and flavour are in balance.
All harvest is done by hand, the winemaking is simple but precise. Fermentation is in used French oak hogsheads. Naturally occurring vineyard yeasts conduct the fermentation, and the wine matures in contact with these same yeasts for up to 12 months before bottling. No fining is used and the wine is minimally filtered.