Munda Wines has been making a name for itself in the wine world since its launch in 2022.
A premium wine label distributed through Negociants, the company is the brainchild of Wirangu and Kokatha man, and founder of the Tjindu Foundation, Paul Vandenbergh.
Where it differs from many others in the crowded Australian market, is the distinctive feel of Indigenous knowledge and craft, with Munda coming from the Wirangu and Kokatha word for land.
Director, Co-Founder and Co-Owner, Mr Vandenbergh, told National Indigenous Times he already owned seafood venture Wanna Mar, and wanted to branch out and bring more Indigenous-owned businesses into the limelight.
The idea came when he thought of classic pairing of seafood with wine, but this time, in the context of an Indigenous-led venture, combining the distinctively European winemaking industry, with ancient and distinct First Nations knowledge and skills.
"I was thinking, wouldn't it be cool to be part of an Indigenous wine company and have nice, sort of cool, nights together, just talking about Indigenous excellence," Mr Vandenbergh said.
"I discovered there was very little [options], and there was none in South Australia, so…I just decided I'll create a wine business as well."
Mr Vandenbergh said he kept coming back to the name Munda when he heard consistent references to 'Terroir' - a French word describing the environmental facets of winemaking, including the environment, ecosystem, the soil, and the vine.
"I sort of started to think about what that really means for the wine industry, because they use this term 'Terroir' a lot," he said.
The age of vines is regularly discussed, with some areas of SA having crops stretching back 150 years. But this is a speck in time compared to the overall human cultivation by First Peoples on the same Country.
"They talk about that concept of 'Terroir' and 'the 'vines this', and 'the vines that,' and that 'our vines are ancient'," Mr Vandenbergh. "I said, 'your vines aren't ancient. We are ancient.'
"I started trying to change a little bit of the narrative.
He said they had to go with Munda to "talk about soil itself," highlighting and amplifying "all the Traditional Owner groups that all these vines sit on, because they've been invisible in the wine industry".
The famous wine growing regions, such as McLaren Vale, now go on the back of the label, with the Country the wine is grown on, in this case, Kaurna Country - where the land has been cultivated for 45,000 years - on the front, for the customer to see.
"That's actually been really well received in the industry," Mr Vandenbergh said, noting other companies have reached out to ask for help with text for an acknowledgment to Country on their labels that they didn't know how to accurately formulate.
"I feel like that's the part where Munda can play this important piece around just helping and encouraging people."
They are a finalist for the Indigenous Exporter of the Year Award at Supply Nation's 2024 Supplier Diversity Awards which will be held in August, and with eight different wines in the market by the end of this year, the company is continuing to grow.
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Munda works closely with, but independently from, Mr Vandenbergh's Tjindu Foundation, which focuses on keeping young Indigenous kids in school and helping them find certain pathways that best suit their skills and interests.
Part of this is finding more Indigenous people to work in the industry, and even a scholarship that is open for someone to become a winemaker.
Mr Vandenbergh said Indigenous knowledge had a role to play in all aspects of the wine sector, from the trees grown next to the vines, to the tops put over them.
"Even when the vines are empty, what does that look like during that period when you're doing the maintenance on it to improve?" he asked. "Whether it's the soil or improving the health of the vines."
This is important as the wine being sold by Munda comes from across Australia — from SA, to WA, to Tasmania. All these regions sit on wildly different Country, with entirely different Traditional Groups and ways of looking after the land.
It is something Mr Vandenbergh is excited about.
"The wine industry is really challenging, but we felt like we might as well just have a crack, because it gives us more stories to tell, right?" he said.
"We will never pick grapes from the same region, from the same area. We want to tell a different story and get those traditional owner groups to tell their story."
Asked what the future holds, Mr Vandenbergh paints a glorious picture.
"I want a cellar door that we could obviously store the Munda wine in, but also, I wanted to have a seafood flavour to it, right?" he said.
"Then you can actually have Indigenous winemakers based there. You can have all these Indigenous young people serving and talking, telling their story, while they're pouring.
"I think it would just be really special."
Everyone can take a sip in the middle of a cold Australian winter and dream of that.