La Sambara Featured in People In Wine Magazine

Earlier this year, members of the Sommeliers of Kenya Association (SOKA) made the drive north from Nairobi to spend a day at La Sambara, and that visit became a full feature in People In Wine Magazine, written by Kevin Obulemire.

The piece follows the whole day, starting with the drive itself: acacia-lined highland roads, a sudden downpour that deepened the red earth before clearing again, and Mount Kenya drifting in and out of view before the group reached Sambara Zabibu Shamba, the vineyard named for the Sambara Hills that rise behind it.

Once on the estate, Kevin was guided through the vines by our team, with the conversation moving between altitude, rainfall, and the honest reality that no two vintages behave quite the same way here. Seven years
into La Sambara’s journey, the piece captures something we care about a great deal: that our approach organic farming, minimal intervention,wines fermented naturally and bottled without added sulphites,comes
through as much in how the vines are grown as in what ends up in the glass.

The afternoon unfolded as a proper tasting: white wines alongside tandoori and tikka chicken, reds paired with roast goat and grilled lamb, and a run through much of our current range, Chenin Blanc, an Orange Chenin Blanc that stood out as one of the highlights of the day, several vintages of Shiraz side by side, and a first look at our Tannat, still finding its footing here.

What stays with us most, reading it back, is how much of the piece is about the place itself, the local community members who hand-pick every harvest, the borehole project that ties the estate to the surrounding area, and the small gesture of sending each guest home with a bottle and a handwritten card.

It’s a generous, detailed look at what a day here actually feels like.

Read the full feature on People In Wine Magazine:
Photography and full article credit: Sheelah Oguda / People In Wine Magazine. Written by Kevin Obulemire.