Ripening grapes above rows of vines at golden hour

Vineyard

To us, nature is the true winemaker.
And wine is our passion.

To us, nature is the true winemaker. And wine is our passion.

Since 1996, the family has tested seven different viticultural areas across Jordan, from Madaba to Kastal to the northern heights. They eventually chose a small triangle of the Oran Plains, north of Sama village: very close to the desert, yet not part of it.

630 m

Altitude of the Sama vineyard

Viticultural areas tested across Jordan

Noble grape varieties planted

1996

Growing wine in Jordan since

Terroir

Clay, limestone and basalt

The vineyard’s exceptional soil is a mixture of three layers, and together they give the vines, and so the wines, their unique character.

Clay

Keeps the soil alive, with healthy organic activity underground.

Limestone

Preserves moisture in the soil, one of the biggest challenges when growing vines here.

Basalt

Brings a wealth of minerals to the vines.

“The basalt is a residue of volcanic activity 50,000 years ago, while 150 million years before that, Jordan was a sea.”

Omar Zumot, winemaker

The Saint George winery house across the vineyard

Jordan is a cold country with a hot sun.

At 630 metres, the Sama vineyard lives with sharp differences between day and night, and between winter and summer. It is a harsh climate, but it is also what gives our wines their character. During the day, sunlight lets the grapes build the aromatic molecules behind taste and colour. The cold night then fixes those molecules in the juice, so they stay stable in the wine. Only small quantities of grapes ripen in these conditions, and every one carries a concentrated aroma.

White grape clusters on the vine at sunset

The west wind

Rows that face the wind

Jordan’s west wind is one of the vineyard’s many blessings. Unlike the south-facing vineyards of Europe, our rows run from east to west. This keeps the grape bunches aired as they grow and ripen, and reduces the diseases that come with humidity.

Starting from scratch

34 noble grape varieties

To make wine you need wine grapes, and in Jordan there were none. So we started from scratch, planting no fewer than 34 noble grape varieties. We did not believe in the impossible, and experimented with hard-to-grow grapes such as Pinot Noir. The results blew us away.

Chardonnay block sign in the Saint George vineyard

Pinot Noir

The winds from the west made its skin thicker and more resilient than its European counterparts.

Gewürztraminer

A wine with unique tropical fruit aromas and a rich spiciness that amazes every wine taster.

Wide view of vine rows in the Sama vineyard

Let the wine be

“People often ask how we can make 34 different wines. No one can master 34 wines. I tell them my secret: I do nothing. I let the wine make itself, as nature can grant us far more than 34 flavours.”

Omar Zumot, winemaker