Sam Bilbro, Sonoma County native and fourth-generation California winemaker, founded Idlewild Wines in 2012, dedicated to making wine from California-grown grapes native to the Piedmont region of Northern Italy.
He now oversees all operations and winemaking as Overshine Wine Company’s managing partner. This is a new brand that was announced this past summer, bringing together several concepts under one umbrella, with operations in Healdsburg. It started when founder David Drummond, a Sonoma County wine grower and former tech executive, acquired Armida Winery and Idlewild Wines.
A new third label, Comunità, showcases Italian varieties grown at Drummond’s Las Cimas Vineyard in the Russian River Valley. This new partnership cements a long-standing relationship with Drummond that started with the re-imagining of Las Cimas Vineyard, which is now home to more than 40 grape varieties, including several plantings that are the first outside of Italy.
Amber Turpin: How did you get into this work?
Sam Bilbro: I was raised in a winemaking family and immersed in vineyards and cellars from a young age.
AT: Did you ever have an “aha” moment with a certain beverage? If so, tell us about it.
SB: Growing up in the wine industry, I always enjoyed wine but never really felt a personal connection until the day I tasted Nebbiolo for the first time. It was a tasting with a sales rep when I was working at a restaurant at the age of 21, and it was an instant feeling of all of my childhood memories—walking in vineyards, having a big garden, making homemade sausage—all suddenly making sense. I suppose it was a taste that gave a new lens to all those memories and showed me how to connect with them.
AT: What is your favorite thing to drink at home?
SB: Coffee and the occasional gin & tonic. I find wine is so much more enjoyable with friends and a meal, and I tend to save it for those occasions.
AT: Where do you like to go out for a drink?
SB: The Geyserville Gun Club is my favorite bar and definite go-to…great food and drinks in a quirky and casual atmosphere.
AT: If you were stuck on a desert island, what would you want to be drinking (besides fresh water)?
SB: A few things would be tough to live without: coffee, gin & tonic (so refreshing on an island), and likely a delicious and crisp white wine like Vermentino comes to the top of the list. Wine is so connected to place and circumstance…so it is what would taste best on a desert island under the sun…but not what is my absolute favorite varietal.
