The Cellar Door Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Something that draws me to the wine industry, perhaps more than anything else, are the stories of the people within it. The stereotypical story I discover is a story of a family with an ancestry stretching back to some courageous individuals who set out to do something beautiful and daring. The stereotypical setting is a place like the Barossa Valley, settled many many years ago b...

Send us Fan Mail Every once in a while, I stumble across fascinating people who are genuine wine enthusiasts. They aren’t necessary part of the primary production, but something happened in their life which connected them to the industry and they have been forever search how to not only maintain the connection, but also to let it flourish. Tom Crago, originally from South Australia is one such per...

Send us Fan Mail Somebody once told me that the history of wine is the history of mankind. Well, without going to any lengths to verify the veracity of that proposition, what I can say is that wine is serious old, and wine has a seriously old relationship with humanity. I always loved ancient history. I have long been fascinated by the Old Testament stories, the tales that came out of Mesopotamia,...

Send us Fan Mail The Victorian Alps, also known as the High Country, is some of Australia’s most stunning countryside occupying the majority of Eastern Victoria. It’s a bit of a tourist hotspot, being more or less the home of Australian Alpine Skiing. It's also home to a rapidly developing and exciting wine scene. Here you will find Billy Button Wines, named after the yellow daisies that are...

Send us Fan Mail Kansas City. Historically it was known as the Paris of the Plains, basically ignoring Prohibition in the early 1900s and becoming an a thriving bed of speakeasies, jazz and culture. Kansas City’s history is beyond colourful. I have lots of family living in Kansas City, including a number of siblings, so it really is a home away from a home and I escape to Kansas City whenever I ca...

Send us Fan Mail In 1866 Henry Best built a winery in the Victorian town of Great Western. Some years later in 1920 the Thomson family took over. Now, the Thomson family have owned and run Bests Winery for 5 successive generations. Not only do they have a long history with Bests Winery and also what is now the geographical indication of Great Western, but they also have claim to some of the oldest...

Send us Fan Mail Wirra Wirra in the McLaren Vale – it’s an Australian icon. It’s as old as the Australian wine industry, dating back to the late 1800’s when the energetic Robert Wigley left the city life and focussed his energy on wine. Over 100 years later, Wirra Wirra has cemented its place in Australian history and culture. Everyone knows and loves Church Block. Many people have shared with me...

Send us Fan Mail  Jane Richard’s story is one of resilience. Her life was turned upside down in one of the more remarkable calamities that you will hear about. But Jane had strong family roots in South Australia’s Limestone Coast, so when life closed one door, it opened another, and Jane charged on. Jane’s family vineyard is in the Wrattonbully district. Her sister Claire studied viticulture at Ro...

Send us Fan Mail My chat with Nick Whiteway was action packed. Beyond fun. That’s what you would expect – talking to someone who one day, years ago, decided to trade in his pin striped suit and shiny shoes for a life dedicated to wine, the wine industry and the wonderful people in it. While Nick has his fingers in many different ferments, his main passion, or so it seemed from talking to him, was...

Send us Fan Mail Ed Agg grew up on the English southern coast. He cherishes the memory of following his dad, a lover of Claret, through wine stores, thumbing through a wine guide and matching the wines in the guide with those he spotted on the shelf. Ed was reading about Grand Cru Burgundy and First Growth Bordeaux long before he was drinking them. Then Ed hit drinking age. His love of wine flouri...

Send us Fan Mail Every wine has a story. The best wines tell a story complete with colour, excitement, and adventure. Where is this wine from? What is the story of that place? Who owned the vineyard? Who planted it? What is their story? What was that wine maker giving expression to through crafting the wine? What happened during that vintage that left an indelible mark on that bottle of wine? Thes...

Send us Fan Mail The Barossa Valley is a very special gem in the crown of Australian Wine, and within the Barossa there are some exceptional people making exceptional wines. I was recently privileged to get my hands on two bottles of Stephen Cook’s Eisenstone wines, from the Ebenezer sub region. I’m not sure exceptional really sums up my feelings about these wines. Stephen Cook, originally from Ne...

Send us Fan Mail The Ashmead family arrived in the Barossa Valley in 1979. A real estate agent in the Nariootpa subregion sold them a house and threw in a vineyard to sweeten and seal the deal. Those were the days. Fast forward, 40 odd years, a Jimmy Watson and two generations of crafting fabulous Barossa Valley wines and Elderton Wines continues to go from Strength to Strength under the leadershi...

Send us Fan Mail When I read that Australian Cricket legend Ricky Ponting had launched a wine label I must confess I was among those who questioned whether it was just another celebrity PR stunt. I later read that Ricky had teamed up with wine maker Ben Riggs, who’s wines and reputation need no introduction. A further fun fact I discovered was that when Ricky retired as Captain of the Australian T...

Send us Fan Mail The story of Chance Encounter Wines is the story of two friends who because of a chance encounter have embarked on a wine journey marked by fun and excellence. Troy and Adam met many moons ago on a rowing team. They have stayed close friends since and one day over a beer decided they would take the plunge together into the wine world. Troy brings business acumen, having a commerci...

Send us Fan Mail I first came across the Head Wines label when working in one of Brisbane’s fine wine establishments. A customer saw the Head Wines label on the shelf and took it upon himself to educate me on the subject of Alex Head’s excellence as a wine maker. I owe that customer to this day. Alex’s passion for crafting award winning Rhone blends in South Australia’s Barossa Valley was sparked...

Send us Fan Mail Michael Juergens, travelled to Bhutan to run a distance race. While running down the rocky Himalayan slopes, Michael had a vision of a wine industry. Not just any old wine industry but a premium wine industry. Not one to let an epic idea slip away, Michael flew back to his Deloitte office in California and prepared a white paper for the inception of a wine industry for the Bhutane...

Send us Fan Mail Prometheus Wines champions the wines of South Australia’s Riverland region. Andrew Starkey, the co-founder of Prometheus Wines, joins me to share the story of a winery that was born from a desire to be innovative in the crafting of wines. Andrew had a background in big corporates, but a love and admiration for the small players and a desire to forge his own path caused Andrew to t...

Send us Fan Mail The Master of Wine qualification is regarded as one of the highest qualifications one can receive in the wine world. There are 409 Masters of Wine in the world. I was lucky enough to sit down with one of them, Mr Andrew Corrigan MW to hear his story and his perspectives on all things wine. We discussed the state of play of wine in the Granite Belt, and Andrew gave me the run down...

Send us Fan Mail Another interview with another magnificent McLaren Vale Winery. But this winery brings something a little different. I was lucky enough to sit down with Mike and Melissa Brown of Gemtree Wines to talk about Gemtree’s story, which is also the story of a winery on the frontier of Australia’s biodynamic wine movement. Mike and Melissa passionately believe in the future of the biodyna...

Send us Fan Mail Sara Newberry’s earliest memories of wine involved her reluctantly tasting a less than pleasant red pushed at her by her mother. However, after stepping away from her early career to become a superstar mother, she one day walked into a quant wine store called Sense of Taste on Brisbane’s port-side. This was the start of something special. Sara had found her passion and her love fo...

Send us Fan Mail Have you heard the story about the Irishman who married the Italian woman and started a winery? Well, you better tune into Tim Donegan’s story which also happens to be the story of what is arguably Australia’s smallest commercial winery. Tim Donegan started Trocchio wines as a side hustle to appease his love of wine and to see where it would lead. One thing led to another and his...

Send us Fan Mail David O’Leary grew up riding horses and trapping rabbits in the Adelaide Hills. Pretty perfect childhood. Then there was the wine. David loved vineyards and wineries from an early age. This love grew and developed. Like many of Australia’s best, he went to Roseworthy and made wine at a number of top Australian wineries including Petaluma. David eventually joined forces with Nick W...

Send us Fan Mail You don’t have to be born into the wine industry to be captivated by its mystery and beauty. Priscilla Hennekam is a native of Brazil and after studying gastronomy she pulled up stumps and moved across to Argentina - where she immersed  herself in the world of wine. After gallivanting around the globe with the goal of taking the wine world for all it has to offer, she met a wonder...

Send us Fan Mail Fred Peacock is more or less synonymous with the development of the Tasmanian wine industry. His name is also synonymous with Bream Creek, a Tasmanian Winery renowned for crafting sensational cool climate wines. Fred is a self-confessed dirt man. Distinguishing himself from those who work in the cellar – Fred’s passions are vines, soil, and terroir. Fred joins me in the Cellar Doo...