The Cellar Door Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to CDP Insights, a Cellar Door Podcast initiative where we stay up to date with market trends and get sharp industry insights. This week Joe Fattorini shares his insights on AI and how he considers it will best help industry.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Angus Hughson is one of Australia’s most respected wine writers, critics, and communicators. His deep understanding of wine is shaped not just by years in the industry but also by his PhD in psychology—specifically, the psychology of taste. Psychology plays a crucial role in wine, from how we perceive flavors to the way pricing and marketing influence consumer behavior. Lately, An...

Send us Fan Mail Every so often, a wine brand rises above the rest—its quality, reputation, and influence extending far beyond the bottle. Clonakilla, led by the Kirk family for two generations, perhaps soon to be three, is one such name. Their iconic Shiraz Viognier has firmly secured its place among Australia’s greatest wines, while the rest of the Clonakilla range continues to showcase the uniq...

Send us Fan Mail At the time of this recording, I’m in the heart of the Hunter Valley, right in the middle of vintage. Despite a few close calls with wet weather leading up to picking, there’s an air of optimism in the region. It’s the perfect time to reconnect with a true Hunter Valley icon and explore what makes this place so special. Longtime listeners might remember my earlier conversation wit...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s world of modern business, it’s crucial to hedge your bets, diversify your offerings, and have as many strings to your bow as possible. This rings especially true for the contemporary wine industry, where challenges are complex and ever-evolving. To navigate these challenges, solutions must be just as dynamic and multifaceted. Italian Wine Cellars in inner Sydney is a sh...

Send us Fan Mail The value of a great distributor is immeasurable. A distributor who truly understands the market, knows how to navigate it, provides meaningful support to their labels, and communicates clearly while setting realistic expectations can be a game-changer for successful market entry. Yet measuring a distributers impact is challenging — numbers shift with market trends, and intangible...

Send us Fan Mail Long time listeners of the show will remember back to Season 1 Episode 24, the story of the adventurous Michael Juergens and the founding of the Bhutan Wine Industry. Well, ladies and gentlemen - Michael is back, and he’s back with a bang to give both you and me an update on all things regarding the development one of the world’s most exciting emerging wine scenes.  Michael has be...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to the Cellar Door Podcast! 2025 is shaping up to be an extraordinary year with fresh guests, compelling topics, and plenty of excitement. As we kick off the 5th season of the CDP, we're starting by releasing the final conversations recorded in the U.S. during 2024. I'm thrilled to begin with a truly inspiring discussion with Raj Parr. Born in Calcutta, Raj...

Send us Fan Mail This conversation will likely close out what has been a fascinating 2024. I’m still in Massachusetts immersing myself in the East Coast trade. The year is quickly coming to a close – it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – and its bloody cold. In fact, I’ve come down with a cold and I’m struggling to fight it off. I honestly feel a bit mentally and physically challenged - No...

Send us Fan Mail Aaron Ridgway serves as Head of Market for Wine Australia in the Americas, overseeing efforts across the U.S. and Canada. Leading a team of four, his work focuses on education, business development, and market entry for Australian wine in the North American market. Since transitioning from Negociants to Wine Australia in 2016, Aaron has been at the forefront of promoting Australia...

Send us Fan Mail Kate Webber bends over backwards to give strong representation to Australian wine on her restaurant wine lists. She presents legacy brands, through to brands that represent the unknown middle ground of Australian wine, where the true excitement, innovation and value propositions are to be found. She extends herself and fights to get wines on her lists that ordinary would not be av...

Send us Fan Mail One of the most perplexing aspects of the American wine industry is its three-tier system. Introduced post-Prohibition in 1933, the system was designed to prevent monopolies and address tax irregularities—issues rooted in Mafia activity at the time—while also aiming to reduce the social harm associated with alcohol consumption. In essence, the system mandates that alcohol reach co...

Send us Fan Mail Jeronimo Ramales is the Wine Director at Prima, an acclaimed Italian restaurant nestled in Boston’s historic Charlestown district. Originally from Mexico, Jeronimo’s journey into hospitality began after he moved to New York, where he discovered a world far removed from his non-drinking background. His curiosity was piqued by the intricacies of restaurant wine lists, sparking a pas...

Send us Fan Mail In Season 3, Episode 9, I sat down with Doug Neal to cover the basics of oak in winemaking—a conversation that became a fan favorite. Doug's deep passion for oak is contagious; as a former history teacher turned wine maker and expert, he brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective on the subject. So, naturally, I couldn’t resist inviting him back for a deeper dive. ...

Send us Fan Mail They don’t come much cooler than Chris Morisoli. He flies UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, he’s completed deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan as a MEDEVAC polite rescuing wounded soldiers out of firefights and flying them to safety, he has served more or less his entire life as a volunteer fire fighter and – oh yes – he is the latest generation of the Morisoli family who are custodia...

Send us Fan Mail I’ve been living in the USA since April, with April through July immersed in the vibrant Santa Barbara Wine Country alongside Wes Hagen and his wife, Chanda. Longtime listeners will know Wes as a foundational figure in this region, notably for his work in establishing many of Santa Barbara’s AVAs. But next to Wes stands Chanda, his steadfast partner and inspiration, whom he met at...

Send us Fan Mail Fraser Mackenzie is the Group General Manager at Artisans of the Barossa, a collective of artisan producers dedicated to showcasing the unique diversity and heritage of Australia’s Barossa Valley. The Artisans’ mission is to dispel myths and redefine perceptions by highlighting the region's remarkable range—from ancient vines and rich soils to the innovative techniques of the...

Send us Fan Mail What is blind tasting? Why do it? Who benefits from it? To explore these questions, I sat down with two exceptional guests: industry veteran and Master Sommelier Bobby Stuckey, and dynamic wine student Cokie Ponikvar. Bobby brings seasoned wisdom to the table, while Cokie offers her trademark passion and fresh insights that make her a standout voice in the industry. In this episod...

Send us Fan Mail Robert Joseph is a wine industry luminary. He’s been in the game for a long time and has observed and considered a great many things. He has launched wine labels, he’s had a decorated career as a wine journalist and along the way he found time to launch the international wine challenge considered by many to be the most rigorous, impartial and influential wine competition, yet inte...

Send us Fan Mail Some time back a friend graciously gifted me a bottle of wine from a label I had only a distant familiarity with. A quick glance at the bottle set my mind racing. It was a Grenache crafted from Barossa vines over 150 years old—an 1850 Ancestor Vine Grenache from Cirillo Wine Estate in the Barossa Valley’s Nuriootpa sub-region. A brief dive into the history of Cirillo Estate reveal...

Send us Fan Mail In or around 2013 three Aussie mates conspired to create the ultimate digital wine playground in a bid to make it easier for everyday Aussies to access great Australian wines. Today the DifferentDrop acts as one of the premier platforms for and supporters of domestic Australian wine. They keep an eye on the trends and form relationships with great Aussie producers to get access to...

Send us Fan Mail Get ready for an inspiring tale that’s guaranteed to warm your heart! It’s a story about passion, community, and a group of remarkable students at Upper Yarra Secondary College who are taking a bold step into the world of viticulture, winemaking and hospitality. Under the expert guidance of their dedicated teacher and mentor, Marcus Cook, these students have been hands-on in farmi...

Send us Fan Mail According to the World Health Organization, “any level of alcohol consumption is associated with preventable net harms due to multiple health conditions such as injuries, alcohol use disorders (AUDs), liver diseases, cancers and cardiovascular diseases, as well as harms to persons other than drinkers.” According to Dave Parker of Benchmark Wine Group, that statement is demonstrabl...

Send us Fan Mail This episode features none other than Joe Fattorini, a true force in the world of wine. Many of you know him as the co-presenter of The Wine Show , where he takes viewers on a journey through vineyards and wine cultures across the globe. But Joe’s influence reaches far beyond the screen. He’s a seasoned wine merchant, expert, educator, and marketer who has spent decades passionate...

Send us Fan Mail Tom Kline writes about wine. He has written for publications including Decanter Magazine, Wine Spectator, Halliday Magazine, Winepilot, and the much-loved Gourmet Traveler Wine of happy memory. Yet most recently Tom has embraced the challenge of writing as the Australian contributor to Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy, Jasper Morris MW’s online database dedicated to showcasing the ve...