The Cellar Door Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Giles Cooke MW is one of the industry leaders behind the sensational wave of new age Grenache sweeping across the McLaren vale and Barossa. He also brings bucketloads of perspective given his wealth of industry background developed in the European market - not to mention the big initials MW next to his name. Giles is all about excitement and innovation and doing what it takes to e...

Send us Fan Mail This is my first episode recorded since arriving in Santa Barbara, and I couldn’t think of a better way to start than by getting the Santa Barbara story, plus the story of a winery that forms part of Californian history. Who better to share the story than one of the legends of the Santa Barbara wine scene, Wes Hagen. A huge thanks to Wes for joining me.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail There is nothing as important as going back to basics, so I called on wine rockstar Doug Neal for some education – on the topic of oak and its role in the wine world. As always, its difficult to be comprehensive, especially when you’re on the clock, but the passionate teacher in Doug came out and I found his class very insightful. A huge thanks to Doug for joining me.  Support the...

Send us Fan Mail It’s important to tie off loose ends, so I sat down with Jeremy Oliver a second time to cap off the themes in his recently release paper to the wine industry. We discussed China’s decision to lift the tariffs on Australian wine imports, the difficulties posed where a duopoly controls a consumer market and we discussed some of the feedback from our first chat. As always -  fun and...

Send us Fan Mail For more than three decades, Huon Hooke has dedicated his pen to the world of wine. Beginning his career as a journalist in the traditional print media, Huon has witnessed the evolution of wine reviewing and criticism from the era of the print media to the digital age and now the uncharted territory of social media. Huon generously shared his insights on the Real Review's wor...

Send us Fan Mail Andrew Burchell's vision is to put Mount Gambier on the national and global radar as a premium producing wine region. He has the passion, the love of wine and viticulture, and Mt Gambier provides the perfect conditions, including – wait for it – a volcano – yes Andrew crafts wines in the foothills of Australia’s only inactive volcano which is predicted to erupt in the next 10...

Send us Fan Mail Brandon Farrell travels the world tasting the world’s finest wines so that he can present them at events and as part of specially curated lists at dinners put on through his company the Brilliant Wine Co. Brandon’s travels recently brought him to Australia’s sunny shores. His intentions had originally been to get some sun and enjoy the surf, but when his network put him in touch w...

Send us Fan Mail The stars are aligning for Stephen Cook of Eisenstone Wines. Stephen modelled his project at Eisenstone on the production of small batch Barossa Shiraz, where success would follow Stephen’s attention to detail and captivating his audience with the resulting quality wines. Since I last spoke with Stephen, his range has grown to 12 subregional Barossa Shiraz expressions, all which t...

Send us Fan Mail Brenden Robnik is a hard-working tradie by day, but when the sun goes down and he downs tools he morphs into the Wine Animal – who’s passion for wine and desire to share knows no limits. It doesn’t take long talking to the Wine Animal for his passion to shine through – but what is just as, if not more captivating, than the Wine Animal’s passion – is the story behind it. The Wine A...

Send us Fan Mail Melania Battiston was already an advanced Sommelier at the Court of Master Sommeliers by age 24. In 2021 Melania was rated in the top 100 most influential women in hospitality. In 2023 Melania was award young UK Sommelier of the year. In 2024 Melania was on the Decanter panel as a judge for the Decanter World Wine Awards. During COVID, Melania worked at Modena’s 3 Michelin Star re...

Send us Fan Mail Wine personalities don’t come much bigger than Jeremy Oliver. Widely considered to be not only Australia’s top wine authority, but also one of the top critic’s on the global stage, Jeremy Oliver’s wine story dates back to when he was a mentee of Dan Murphy at the first Dan Murphy’s store in Chapel Street Prahran. Now, with over 36 years as an independent wine critic, he has publis...

Send us Fan Mail This year I fell in love with the wines of Barolo. I have long been fascinated by Italian wine, all its history and the specific characters that the diverse Italian terroir confers. Barolo is unique. Now Federica Boffa, 5th generation Pio Cesare, agrees that Barolo is indeed special and the slopes, soil and altitude confer a rare magic that those lucky enough to taste Barolo wines...

Send us Fan Mail Will Taylor has experienced it all in the wine world. South Australian born and bred, he has spent a large portion of his career advising some of Australia’s most reputable wine businesses on how to navigate the business world. Will also has skin in the game, having operated his own successful label. Will recently joined me to share his perspectives on the state of play in the ind...

Send us Fan Mail Many months ago Californian wine great Wes Hagen caused me to reflect on what is the true lifeblood of the Australian wine industry – are we all about sunshine and ripeness or do we have a genuine fine wine sector, where we let real Australian character speak through our wines. On the international scene, Australia has performed strongly in what we might call the affordable, drink...

Send us Fan Mail I've spent a long time experimenting with different food and wine pairings, wondering why sometimes I nail them and other times I flunk it. Well, coming up to Christmas, my favourite time of the year,  I'm taking the step to mitigate the risk of human fallibility, and that attached to using and applying general rules. I've called in the pro, Marc Malouf of I Heart W...

Send us Fan Mail It is rare to achieve or merit cult status in the Aus wine scene. However, Doug Neal has done just that. His breadth of experience stretches from Burgundy to Bordeaux and across to California - back home in Australia he applied his Midas touch at Giaconda and the legendary Paradise IV before setting his sights on new ambitions with labels Altera Terra and Gaffy and Neal. Consisten...

Send us Fan Mail Shandor and Jess Lim were comfortably intrenched in the Hunter Valley wine scene, Jess was the lauded somm at the two hatted Muse restaurant, and Shandor operated a successful tourism company where he prided himself on providing an authentic and grassroots Hunter Valley experience. They tell the story of how they were both looking for a new wine frontier to explore to take their w...

Send us Fan Mail Mozzie Khan is an up-and-coming superstar in the Brisbane wine scene. He is the current Brisbane brand ambassador for Hidden Creek winery and he has made it his mission to educated people, on and infuse people with passion for, wine. While Mozzie generally hides his wealth of knowledge under a bushel, his personality may be best captured by one of his many Instagram handles, vines...

Send us Fan Mail Barry and Bernadette Wurlod were dairy farmers. Their son Jerram describes them as being effective and innovative users of technology in the dairy industry. In 2005, Barry and Bernadette decided to pull up stumps on the dairy front, a decision which inspired a voyage to Europe, where they were immersed in the world of European wine. Here the spark of innovation and change was reig...

Send us Fan Mail I recently sat down with the Cellar Post's Ed Agg to hear all about the new program he has unrolled, giving his supporters access to ridiculous wine for incredible value prices. A unique program unrolling with a unique offering.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Part 2 of my chat with one of my favourite Sydney wine guys, the knowledgeable and charismatic Cal Lee. This week Cal takes us on a deep dive of the wine course he is taking at Charles Sturt University. Cal’s perspectives are invaluable for anyone who might consider taking their interest in wine to a whole new level. On this occasion I had to make use of a backup microphone (and y...

Send us Fan Mail Nearly twelve months ago I went out to dinner with one of my best friends to celebrate his engagement to his beautiful bride to be. Our choice of location was calculated, a wine bar I had been told had a great wine list, and a somm with a personality to match it. The rumours were correct on both counts. The wines were great – only outshone by the hospitality of the somm who looked...

Send us Fan Mail I recall the first time I scanned one of Marc Malouf’s tasting notes. His attention to detail in pinpointing taste, his ability to identify the nuanced and specific, is remarkable and to my mind awe inspiring.  Mark grew up in a family who loved and valued cuisine and this set the backdrop to Mark developing a forensic wine palate.  Marc is a wine enthusiast extraordinaire and giv...

Send us Fan Mail I’m pretty sure it was Batman who said that crime never sleeps, but justice knows no bounds. Well, my eyes were truly opened when I began following the work of the illustrious Maureen Downey and her quest to shine the light on and fight wine crime. I was slightly more shocked with how readily Maureen agreed to sit down with me and share her story. Maureen Downey is a renowned auth...

Send us Fan Mail Kate Sturgess and Brokenwood are two names synonymous with wine making excellence. Kate is a Queensland native who acted on an adventurous inspiration deciding that she would be a wine maker, a decision that placed her on a path to being one of the most exciting wine makers in the Australian landscape. Brokenwood winery in the heart of the hunter, with a reputation for excellence,...