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Send us Fan Mail Ten glasses, one blind tasting, and a question that's been quietly dividing Australian wine for years: are we still trying to make Burgundy, or have we finally found our own voice with Pinot Noir? On this episode of The Wined Up Podcast, Trent sits down with returning guest Marc Malouf of iHeartWine for a genuine celebration of Pinot Noir, not a ranking exercise. They kick off with a round of Pinot specific icebreakers, including the 2012 Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny that Marc calls the most gorgeous Pinot of his life, and a dinner with United Cellars that ran through nine vintages of Mascarello Monprivato Barolo. From there the conversation gets into the real substance. Marc is honest that Australian Pinot doesn't quite reach the heights of Shiraz or Chardonnay yet, but argues that isn't really the point. Where Burgundy has had centuries to map its soils down to the individual row, Australia is still working it out, and Marc makes the case that chasing a Burgundian blueprint might be the wrong goal altogether. Sites like the Yarra Valley grow half a dozen varieties side by side, which makes the kind of granular classification Burgundy is famous for a genuinely different challenge here. Then comes the main event: ten Pinot Noirs poured blind, head to head across two glasses at a time, with the loser pushed out and replaced until only a favourite remains. Whole bunch versus destemmed, carbonic maceration, oak tannin versus stem tannin, and the way colour gives away a wine's story all come up as Trent and Marc work through bracket after bracket, laughing at how genuinely hard it is to choose between wines that are all, in their words, unfairly good. The reveal at the end is the twist. The wine that very nearly won the whole tasting turns out to cost around $60, a reminder that some of the best Pinot in the country doesn't need to cost a bomb. Marc also hands over a genuine gateway recommendation for anyone new to the variety: an independent Geelong producer punching well above its price point. It's an honest, occasionally chaotic and thoroughly enjoyable look at where Australian Pinot Noir actually stands right now, and why that might be something worth celebrating rather than comparing. 👉 Subscribe to @thewinedup and tell us below: Which Australian Pinot region do you think deserves more attention? Drop it in the comments 👇 Go check out Marc's site: https://iheartwine.com.au/  🎙️ Clip from The Wined Up Podcast 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on Instagram @the.wined.up, @iheartwineaustralia and @wineworthwritingabout 🌐 Visit https://www.thewinedup.com.au   📩 [email protected]   #pinotnoir #australianwine #marcmalouf #bromleywines #TheWinedUpPodcast #wedrinkwetrywelearnweconnect   We Drink. We Try. We Learn. We connect. Drink Responsibly. 🍷 YouTube Chapters 00:00  How Good Is Australian Pinot, Really? 01:04  The Wined Up Ice Breaker Questions 04:49  Fun Facts Even Wine Lovers Miss About Pinot 07:12  Marc's Favourite Australian Producers 08:39  Chasing Burgundy Without the Centuries of History 13:29  Ten Wines, One Blind Tasting Begins 20:37  A New Bracket and a Total Change of Personality 39:10  The Reveal and a Surprise Under $60 41:17  Final Reflections and Advice for New Pinot Drinkers Follow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].    Drink More, Try More, Learn More.

Send us Fan Mail Mark Dietz grew up with over 30,000 bottles of wine around him. The question this conversation keeps circling back to is a simple one: how do you step out of a cellar like that and go build something entirely your own?  Dietz is the co-owner of Small Island Wines, a boutique, cool-climate Tasmanian producer he runs with his business partner James Broinowski, focused on Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. But his path there wasn't a straight line. He started out chasing marine biology, half-convinced he'd become a reconstructive surgeon for shark attack victims, until the size of an actual great white changed his mind. What put him on the wine path instead was a blind tasting at Stellenbosch's Chocolate Block, where he called the varietal, the vintage and the hemisphere without really trying, and someone told him he had a knack for it.  He talks candidly about growing up inside the wine world his father Rudi built at Stuyvesant's House, the family's Sydney institution with cases stacked at home, suitcases coming back from holidays loaded with Domaine Romanée-Conti, and a cellar that runs into the tens of thousands of bottles. It shaped his palate long before he ever touched a barrel, and he's honest about what he took from it and what he deliberately chose to do differently.  The Small Island story itself starts almost by accident: one dinner at Golden Century, one taste of James's riesling and pinot, and a phone call that same night. What followed was a partnership built on cleaning things up — dropping the varieties that didn't fit, backing a handful of vineyard sites they trust completely, and letting Tasmania's cool climate do the talking.  Along the way there's a blind chardonnay flight where Mark misreads his own wine as European (against a 2015 Bernard Huber Germanic chardonnay and a 99-point Tolpuddle), a shared birth-vintage 1981 Wolf Blass with a genuinely strange origin story, and two properly good anecdotes of a magnum of Rockford's Home Block that turned a room full of non-wine-drinkers into collectors, and a $14 guess on a wine worth considerably more than that.  It's a conversation about legacy, about building your own name next to a very large one, and about why the story behind a bottle can matter as much as what's in the glass.  👉 Subscribe to @thewinedup and tell us below:  If you inherited a cellar like this, what would you open first? Drop it in the comments 👇  Go check out Small Island Wines: https://smallislandwines.com/  🎙️ Clip from The Wined Up Podcast  📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow us on Instagram @the.wined.up, @smallislandwines and @markdietz  🌐 Visit https://www.thewinedup.com.au and https://smallislandwines.com/  📩 [email protected]  #markdietz #smallislandwines #tasmanianwine #TheWinedUpPodcast #wedrinkwetrywelearnweconnect  We Drink. We Try. We Learn. We connect. Drink Responsibly. 🍷  YouTube Chapters  00:00 Growing Up Inside a Legendary Wine Cellar  01:37 Rapid-Fire Confessions and a $20K Mistake  07:39 Pouring a Hot-Off-the-Press Riesling  10:19 From Marine Biology to a Life in Wine  15:54 What Stuyvesant's House Taught Him About Moderation  16:59 How a Golden Century Dinner Led to Small Island  20:19 A Blind Chardonnay Tasting With a Twist  26:36 Streamlining the Range and Backing the Right Vineyards  36:10 Saltwater vs Cold River: Comparing the Pinots  41:45 Why Winemaking Isn't All Sunshine and Roses  55:39 A Birth-Vintage Time Capsule and Decades of History  1:04:03 The Magnum Story, a $14 Gaja, and What's Next  Follow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].    Drink More, Try More, Learn More.

Send us Fan Mail Mark Best doesn't care what people say about him. He never really has. And oddly, that's the throughline of one of the most layered conversations we've recorded for The Wined Up Podcast.  Best built his reputation the hard way at Marque, seventeen years of three-hat, top-50 cooking that, by his own account, took more than it gave back. He talks candidly about closing those doors in 2016 by the skin of his teeth, about losing a hat and losing financial viability in the same breath, and about how long it actually took to work out who he was as a chef once the accolades stopped defining him.  Ten years on, he's running Infinity, high above Sydney in the Tower, and he's made a call most restaurateurs wouldn't touch: an entirely Australian wine list. No safety net of international labels, no champagne carve-out. Sommeliers pushed back. One told him the concept was weak. Mark Best leaned into the friction anyway, and the diners backed him.  Along the way there's a tasting of the Chalou “Quixotic” Pinot Noir, made by Nadia Wallington and her husband Steve in a genuinely symbiotic vineyard-and-winery partnership, paired with Infinity's dry-aged, chargrilled coral trout. There's a proper conversation about mentoring the generation of chefs who came through Mark's tiny kitchen, Dan Hong and Victor Liong among them, and what he actually looks for in people. And there's an unfiltered take on where Sydney's dining scene is heading, on cultural cringe, on old vines and new heads, and on why he'd rather do good work quietly than chase anyone's approval.  It's honest, occasionally profane, and full of the kind of hard-won perspective you only get from someone who's actually lived through the highs and the wreckage of hospitality. If you care about Australian wine, Australian food, or what it actually takes to build and rebuild a career in this industry.  👉 Subscribe to @thewinedup and tell us below:  What would it take for you to walk away from something you'd built? Drop it in the comments 👇  Go check out Infinity: https://infinitysydneytower.com.au/ and Chalou: https://www.chalouwines.com.au/  🎙️ Clip from The Wined Up Podcast  📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow us on Instagram @the.wined.up, @infinitysydneytower, @chalouwines and @markbest  🌐 Visit https://www.thewinedup.com.au  📩 [email protected]  #markbest #infinitysydney #chalouwines #drinkaustralian #TheWinedUpPodcast #wedrinkwetrywelearnweconnect  We Drink. We Try. We Learn. We connect. Drink Responsibly. 🍷  YouTube Chapters  00:00 Three Hats, One Restless Chef  01:00 The Wined Up Ice Breaker Questions  07:05 Portraits, Truth and a Craftsman, Not an Artist  09:34 Wheat Country, No Chefs, No Celebrity  11:37 The Night the Lightning Struck  13:10 What Mark Best Cuisine Actually Means  16:09 Chasing the Hats and the Weight of Getting There  19:32 Closing the Doors on Marque  20:57 Stepping Into Infinity and the All-Australian Bet  28:55 The Chalou, the Coral Trout and Why Customers Bought In  39:51 Passing It Down: Mentoring the Next Generation  45:47 Why Mark Best Doesn't Chase Approval  Follow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].    Drink More, Try More, Learn More.

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Wined Up Podcast, Trent sits down with Ches Cook from Five Way Cellars, the independent Paddington wine store his parents Ian and Prue opened in 1987 after Ian came home from a year in Europe wanting to bring that world of wine back to Sydney. Ches has now worked there for half his life, and he takes us through what's changed, and what hasn't, across nearly forty years of European-focused wine retail.  The chat moves from a standout cellar visit in the Mosel and an unopened birthday bottle of Côte-Rôtie, through to the philosophy that actually keeps a small shop full of loyal customers: knowing people, being straight with them, and never pretending to love a bottle you don't. Ches breaks down why a higher price tag doesn't mean better wine, what a genuine beginner should actually look for on a label, and the seven types of wine drinker he sees walk through the door, tosser included.  There's a proper detour into a mega-steep, volcanic Grand Cru in Alsace that almost nobody wants to farm, a case for Beechworth as Australia's best-kept Nebbiolo secret, and an honest read on where Burgundy's pricing might be heading. As Ian approaches 70 and the next generation starts taking the reins, Ches reflects on what he's learned from watching his dad build trust with an entire city, one recommendation at a time.  It all circles back to that Grange. Wine, Ches argues, isn't something to hoard for bragging rights, it's something to open with the people who matter. Whether you're just starting out or you've already got a cellar full of Shiraz and only want Pinot, there's something here for you.  👉 Subscribe to @thewinedup and tell us below:  What's sitting in your cellar that you're waiting too long to open? Drop it in the comments 👇  Go check out fivewaycellars.com.au  YouTube Chapters  00:00 Intro  01:18 The Wined Up Ice Breaker Questions  11:01 What Actually Is Five Way Cellars  17:28 The Real Difference Is Connection  20:37 The Grand Cru Almost No One Wants to Farm  24:01 Building Trust One Bottle at a Time  30:43 The Biggest Mistake Wine Buyers Make  33:04 A Beginner's Guide to Buying Better Wine  37:31 The Seven Types of Wine Drinker  46:01 Beechworth: Australia's Nebbiolo Secret  48:04 Rapid-Fire This or That  50:58 What Excites (and Worries) Ches  53:57 Why You Never Sell the Grange  🎙️ Clip from The Wined Up Podcast  📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow us on Instagram @the.wined.up  🌐 Visit https://www.thewinedup.com.au  📩 [email protected]  #fivewaycellars #paddington #sydneywine #independentbottleshop #TheWinedUpPodcast #wedrinkwelearnweconnect  We Drink. We Try. We Learn. We Connect. Drink Responsibly. 🍷  Follow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].    Drink More, Try More, Learn More.

Send us Fan Mail What happens when you take a winemaker who never planned to work in alcohol-free wine, and hand him the job of making it actually taste like wine? Aaron Milne fell into it almost by accident. A winery job during his studies happened to be run by the same people leading Australia's zero-alcohol scene, and a "one year, just to learn it" detour turned into a career. In this episode of The Wined Up Podcast, Trent sits down with Aaron, winemaker for Eden Vale, to pull apart what actually happens when you strip the alcohol out of wine, and why it's so much harder than it sounds. Aaron walks through the process, from the early days of simply boiling off the alcohol, to vacuum distillation, spinning cone columns, and now single-pass equipment that separates the essence, removes the alcohol and returns the flavour. But the technical side is only half the story. Alcohol carries weight, sweetness and length on the palate, and once it's gone, a wine can turn "fossil dry" almost overnight. Reds are the real test: strip the alcohol from a Cabernet and the tannins and colour compounds that depended on it start to fall apart, which is why Eden Vale's Coonawarra Cabernet is described as the Everest of the whole project. The conversation also gets into the culture around no and low alcohol wine: why traditional wine drinkers have been resistant, the idea of "vinosity" as the actual goal, and the rise of the "zebra drinker" -- people who move between full-strength and zero wine in the same session rather than choosing one camp for good. Aaron also touches on where the category is heading, including the mid-strength range he thinks holds the most promise over the next five to ten years. It's an honest, occasionally very funny look at one of the more overlooked corners of the Australian wine industry, and what it actually takes to make something that isn't wine taste like it belongs at the table with food anyway. Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, SBS and Cabernet all make an appearance, alongside a story about a 98 Grange, a fire drum, and Snoop Dogg. 👉 Subscribe to @thewinedup and tell us below: What's your take -- is alcohol-free wine a genuine alternative, or does wine need the alcohol to be wine? Drop it in the comments 👇 Go check out edenvalle.com.au 🎙️ Clip from The Wined Up Podcast 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on Instagram @the.wined.up 🌐 Visit https://www.thewinedup.com.au 📩 [email protected] We Drink. We Try. We Learn. We connect. Drink Responsibly. 🍷 ## YouTube Chapters 00:00 Can Wine Still Be Wine Without the Alcohol? 0:56 Grange, Snoop Dogg and the Icebreaker Questions 5:59 How Aaron Fell Into Winemaking by Accident 8:03 Ending Up at the Frontier of Alcohol-Free Wine 10:33 Why Eden Vale Exists in the First Place 12:58 From Boiling It Out to Vacuum Distillation 16:12 The Real Fight Is Replacing What Alcohol Does 24:09 The Expensive Mistakes Along the Way 25:48 Why Whites Are Easy and Reds Are Brutal 32:53 Chasing Something Called "Vinosity" 36:14 The Rise of the Zebra Drinker 44:03 Taking On the Everest of Zero-Alcohol Wine 50:35 Where Low and No Alcohol Wine Is Headed Next Follow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].    Drink More, Try More, Learn More.

Send us Fan Mail A three hectare Brussels sprout farm on a hill in the Adelaide Hills doesn't sound like the start of one of Australia's most respected Pinot Noir stories. But that's exactly where Ashton Hills began.   In this episode of **The Wined Up Podcast**, Trent sits down with Liam Van Pelt, the winemaker now carrying on the legacy Stephen George built over more than 40 years in the Piccadilly Valley. Liam's own path to Ashton Hills was anything but planned. A Glenelg kid with no wine background, he worked his way through hospitality, wine school, a vintage in Italy, Jeff Grosset's cellar in the Clare Valley, Chapel Hill in McLaren Vale, and a wild stint with Andrew Thomas in the Hunter Valley, before a casual vintage role and a bit of serendipity landed him alongside Stephen. What followed was a letter from Stephen to the CEO of Wirra Wirra that Liam still describes as one of the most emotional moments of his career, handing him a role, and a legacy, that didn't exist yet.   The conversation moves through the story of how Ashton Hills got its name, why Stephen trialled 27 different clones of Pinot Noir on one tiny patch of dirt over four decades, and what it's like to inherit that kind of obsession. Liam and Trent taste through the range together, from the 2025 Piccadilly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir through to the two single vineyard wines, Woods Hill and Bow House, sourced two kilometres apart and showing almost nothing in common, right up to the flagship 2025 Estate Pinot Noir grown on Stephen's original site.   Along the way, Liam talks candidly about the pressure of protecting someone else's life's work, the balance between honouring Stephen's philosophy and finding his own voice, the backing that's let Ashton Hills invest in better fruit and new vineyards for the future, and where he sees the winery heading over the next decade.   It's a conversation about legacy, trust, patience, and what it really takes to keep a 40 year old vision alive without losing it.   If you love Pinot Noir, cool climate wine, or stories about people stepping into someone else's shoes, this one's worth your time.   👉 Subscribe to @thewinedup and tell us below:   What's your favourite Ashton Hills wine? Drop it in the comments 👇   Go check out https://www.ashtonhills.com.au/   🎙️ Clip from The Wined Up Podcast 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on Instagram @the.wined.up 🌐 Visit https://www.thewinedup.com.au   📩 [email protected]   We Drink. We Try. We Learn. We connect. Drink Responsibly. 🍷   ## YouTube Chapters   00:00 Intro 0:55 The Wined Up Ice Breaker Questions 5:15 Wine of the Day: The 2025 Chardonnay 6:26 From a Glenelg Kid to Chasing Vintage 8:32 The Letter That Changed Everything 14:35 Carrying Steven's Piccadilly Pinot Forward 20:11 A Brussels Sprout Farm Called Ashton Hills 27:33 Woods Hill vs Bow House 31:50 What Makes the Piccadilly Valley Different 44:00 The Flagship: 2025 Estate Pinot Noir 47:18 Gamay, Lighter Styles and a New Generation 51:13 Rapid Fire: This or That 52:08 What's Next for Ashton Hills 54:16 Closing Thoughts     Follow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].    Drink More, Try More, Learn More.

Send us Fan Mail What happens when Australian investors, a respected Portuguese winemaker, and a forgotten vineyard come together just 45 minutes from Lisbon?   In this episode of The Wined Up Podcast, we head to Portugal’s emerging Tejo wine region to discover ODE Wines. A winery that’s quickly gaining attention after being named one of Portugal’s best new wine projects.   But this story goes beyond what’s in the bottle.   We explore how ODE transformed semi-abandoned vineyards into a destination built around wine, food, farming, nature and hospitality. Along the way, Trent tastes through three very different wines that reveal a fascinating side of Portugal many wine lovers may have overlooked.   From a rich and textured Arinto that completely changes expectations of Portuguese white wine, to a beautifully expressive Touriga Nacional that captures the spirit of Portugal, and finally a happy-accident blend called Quarteto that might just be the perfect steak wine, this episode is all about curiosity, discovery and finding exciting wines from unexpected places.   We also dive into: ·       Why the Tejo region is becoming one of Portugal’s most talked-about wine areas ·       The Australian connection behind ODE Wines ·       Minimal intervention winemaking and what it actually means ·       Portuguese grape varieties worth seeking out ·       Food pairings for Arinto, Touriga Nacional and Quarteto ·       Why Portugal continues to be one of the most exciting wine countries in the world   If you love Portuguese wine, wine travel, hidden wine regions, or simply discovering great stories through a glass of wine, this episode is for you.   Because sometimes the most exciting wine journeys start with a little curiosity.   Chapters 00:00 – Is ODE Portugal’s Most Exciting Winery Right Now?  00:20 – How a Portuguese Chicken Pairing Sparked This Journey  01:00 – The Story Behind ODE Wines  01:45 – More Than a Winery: Farming, Food & Wine Tourism  02:30 – The Australian Connection to ODE  03:10 – Minimal Intervention, Maximum Attention  03:50 – Why Portugal’s Tejo Region Is Rising Fast  04:40 – First Taste: The Arinto That Changed Expectations  06:20 – Discovering Portugal’s Signature Red: Touriga Nacional  08:45 – A Happy Accident Called Quarteto  10:30 – The Portuguese Steak Wine?  11:05 – Final Verdict: Is ODE One to Watch?   👉 Subscribe to @thewinedup and tell us below:   Have you discovered Ode wines, Tejo region or Portuguese wines yet? Drop it in the comments 👇   Get out and visit Portugal and Ode Winery at https://odewinery.com/ and also grab your Ode wines at https://www.globalgrapevine.com.au/product-category/vineyard/ode/    🎙️ Clip from The Wined Up Podcast  📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow us on Instagram @the.wined.up  🌐 Visit https://www.thewinedup.com.au 📩 [email protected]   #Arinto #touriganacional #quarteto #PortugueseWine #odewinery #tejoregion #TheWinedUpPodcast #wedrinkwelearnweconnect   We Drink. We Try. We Learn. We Connect. Drink Responsibly. 🍷 Follow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].    Drink More, Try More, Learn More.

Send us Fan Mail What makes a modern Chinese restaurant truly great? And what wine should you be drinking with it?  In this episode of The Wined Up Podcast, Trent sits down with Victor Liong, the chef behind Lee Ho Fook, for a conversation that spans food, wine, family, culture and the realities of building one of Australia's most respected restaurants.  Victor shares stories from growing up between Brunei, Malaysia and Sydney, visiting his grandfather's kopitiam, walking away from a business degree to pursue cooking, and the journey that led to Lee Ho Fook becoming a fixture of Australian dining.  They also dive into opening Lee Ho Fook Sydney, balancing fatherhood with business ownership, handling criticism, overcoming imposter syndrome and why great restaurants focus on refining ideas rather than constantly chasing trends.  For wine lovers, Victor discusses the wines that shaped his palate, why Lee Ho Fook champions Australian producers, and his favourite Chinese food pairings.  It's a conversation about hospitality, identity, creativity and the philosophy of serving guests above all else.  If you love wine, food, restaurants, hospitality, entrepreneurship or Australian gastronomy, you'll enjoy this one.  Chapters  00:00:00 Intro  00:00:55 Icebreakers  00:09:50 Victor's Background Story  00:18:47 Culinary Influences  00:21:10 Li Ho Fook Story & Philosophy  00:24:43 Defining Modern Chinese Cuisine  00:33:00 Wine Journey  00:46:57 Wine of the Day - Gronju Chardonnay  00:52:06 Wine at Li Ho Fook  00:57:13 Wine Pairings with Chinese Food  01:01:28 Rapid Fire Questions  01:08:33 Proudest Moments & Future  01:12:58 Closing    👉 Subscribe to @thewinedup and tell us below:   What’s your favourite dish at Lee Ho Fook? Drop it in the comments 👇   Go check out https://www.leehofook.com.au/   🎙️ Clip from The Wined Up Podcast  📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow us on Instagram @the.wined.up  🌐 Visit https://www.thewinedup.com.au  📩 [email protected]   #leehoFook #victorliong #granjoux #drinkaustralian #TheWinedUpPodcast #wedrinkwelearnweconnect  We Drink. We Try. We Learn. We Connect. Drink Responsibly. 🍷  Follow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].    Drink More, Try More, Learn More.

Send us Fan Mail What if you could travel from England to France, Tasmania and Bordeaux without ever leaving your chair? In this episode of The Wined Up Podcast, we're not exploring a single wine region. Instead, we're following the story of one family that has spent more than 50 years searching the world for great wine and has delivered over a billion bottles along the way.  The journey starts with a young Tony Laithwaite working a harvest in Saint-Émilion. Surrounded by talented growers making incredible wines that rarely left France, he had a simple idea: load a van, take the wines directly to customers, and share discoveries that most people would never find on their own. Decades later, that idea became one of the world's largest family-owned wine merchants.   To understand the philosophy behind Laithwaites, we taste our way through four very different wines. ·       A sparkling wine from Windsor Great Park that showcases why English sparkling is becoming one of the most exciting categories in the wine world. ·       A classic Provence rosé that delivers everything you want from southern France, freshness, minerality and effortless drinkability. ·       A beautifully elegant Tasmanian Pinot Noir from Joseph Chromy that highlights why Tasmania continues to punch well above its weight. ·       A mysterious Pauillac Bordeaux sourced from a secret First Growth parcel that offers a glimpse into one of wine's most prestigious regions without the eye-watering price tag.  This episode is ultimately about discovery. The people who spend their lives searching for hidden gems. The stories behind great bottles. And why wine remains one of the few things that can transport you across continents through a single glass. Chapters  00:00 How Do You Travel the World Through 4 Wines? 00:47 The Family Behind a Billion Bottles 01:13 The Bordeaux Harvest That Started Everything 02:00 The Untold Story of Barbara Laithwaite 02:30 What Actually Makes a Wine Merchant? 03:06 Four Wines. Four Regions. One Journey. 03:24 England's Royal Sparkling Wine Surprise 05:01 Why Provence Rosé Never Goes Out of Style 06:13 Tasmania's Pinot Noir Sweet Spot 07:55 The Secret First Growth Bordeaux 09:35 A Pauillac That Drinks Well Above Its Price 10:04 Why Wine Is the Ultimate Way to Travel 10:34 The Wines We'd Buy Again Tomorrow 👉 Subscribe to @thewinedup and tell us below: Do you think great wine always has to come with a big price tag? Drop it in the comments 👇 Go check out https://www.laithwaites.com.au/ to find your favourite wine OR check out the wines at the https://goodfoodshow.com.au/sydney-show/  🎙️ Clip from The Wined Up Podcast  📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow us on Instagram @the.wined.up  🌐 Visit https://www.thewinedup.com.au 📩 [email protected] #laithwaites #greatwindsorpark #josefchromy #moulindepontfract #pinot #rose #paulliac #goodfoodandwine #TheWinedUpPodcast #wedrinkwelearnweconnect We Drink. We Try. We Learn. We Connect. Drink Responsibly. 🍷 Follow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].    Drink More, Try More, Learn More.

Send us Fan Mail What actually happens when you blind taste some of Australia’s most hyped Chardonnays… against each other? In this episode of The Wined Up Podcast, Trent is joined by the always insightful Marc Malouf for a deep dive into Australian Chardonnay. From cult favourites and benchmark producers to the styles, philosophies, and winemaking fingerprints that shape the country’s most talked-about bottles.  It’s raw, blind, occasionally chaotic, and full of genuine moments where both of us completely rethink what we thought we knew about Chardonnay. One wine gets described as “compelling”, another divides us with intense reductive character, and at one point we genuinely question whether Australian Chardonnay might now rival the world’s top chardonnays.  If you love Chardonnay, or think you hate it, this episode might genuinely surprise you. Chapters 00:00 The French Wine Twist Nobody Expected  00:14 What Is Australia’s Favourite Chardonnay?  01:55 Mark’s Most Memorable Wine Ever  03:14 Why Riesling Might Beat Chardonnay  04:30 The Biggest Lesson From a Life in Wine  06:23 A Vintage Year of Life, Highs & Lows  08:24 Fresh Sourdough Before Nine Chardonnays  09:14 Why Great Chardonnay Is So Hard to Make  10:09 Does Australian Chardonnay Have an Identity?  21:03 The Blind Tasting Starts Getting Serious  23:33 Reductive Chardonnay Explained  26:26 “How Bloody Good Is Australian Chardonnay?”  29:34 Final Round: The Most Divisive Wine Yet  30:46 The Wine Geek Chardonnay Debate  31:00 Which Chardonnay Actually Won? 👉 Subscribe to @thewinedup and tell us below: What’s your favourite Australian chardonnay? Drop it in the comments 👇 Go check out www.iheartwine.com.au to find your favourite wine.  🎙️ Clip from The Wined Up Podcast  📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow us on Instagram @the.wined.up  🌐 Visit https://www.thewinedup.com.au 📩 [email protected] #australianchardonnay #chardonnay #chardy #giaconda #savaterre #leeuwin #cullen #tolpuddle #TheWinedUpPodcast #wedrinkwelearnweconnect We Drink. We Try. We Learn. We Connect. Drink Responsibly. 🍷 Follow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].    Drink More, Try More, Learn More.

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Wined Up Podcast, we sit down with amateur winemaker James Follent to unpack what really happens when curiosity turns into a full-blown garage winery obsession. What started with buying wine for Qantas points somehow turned into hand-picking grapes, experimenting with sparkling Chardonnay, making raspberry mead, joining the Sydney Amateur Winemakers Club, and producing nearly 300 bottles of wine at home. Along the way, James shares the chaos, mistakes, and happy accidents that come with learning winemaking from scratch, including dropping 23 litres of Moscato all over the kitchen floor. This conversation dives into what home winemaking actually teaches you about wine. From fermentation and faults to sulphites, ageing, oxidation, vineyard challenges, and why cleaning might secretly be the most important skill in winemaking. If you’ve ever wondered whether making wine would completely change the way you drink it… this episode is for you. Whether you're into Australian wine, home fermentation, garage winemaking, cellar culture, wine education, or just love hearing passionate people obsess over their hobby, this episode captures the messy, fascinating side of wine that most people never see. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction - Do You Really Understand Wine? 00:00:37 Meet James Fallon - Amateur Winemaker 00:01:08 Lord James & The Scottish Land Story 00:02:25 Icebreaker Questions 00:02:28 Most Memorable Wine Moment 00:04:24 Who Would You Share a Bottle With? 00:05:21 Food & Wine Pairing + Biggest Lesson 00:06:53 Bottling a Life Moment (2025) 00:08:24 James' Wine Journey Begins 00:11:23 From Drinking to Making Wine 00:12:11 Sydney Amateur Winemakers Club 00:19:25 Sparkling Chardonnay 2025 Tasting 00:22:00 Chateau Falon - Name & Story 00:24:32 How Winemaking Changed His Perspective 00:25:40 Regenerative & Biodynamic Viticulture 00:28:44 Vermentino Mudgee 2025 00:31:25 Winemaking Mistakes & Lessons 00:33:33 Garage Winemaking Setup 00:35:15 Oak, Blending & Experiments 00:38:28 Raspberry Mead Tasting & Story 00:43:10 Regenerative Farming Deep Dive 00:47:38 Merlot Cabernet Blend 00:50:30 Future Plans - Going Commercial? 00:55:57 Final Thoughts & The Joy of Winemaking 00:57:32 Where to Find James & The Club 00:58:25 Closing & Cheers 👉 Subscribe to @thewinedup and tell us below: Have you ever thought about making your own wine? Drop it in the comments 👇 Go check out James Follent and his journey with amateur wine making at https://chateaufollent.com.au/ and his insta https://www.instagram.com/j.fol/. Alternatively if you want to be pursue the journey yourself, check out the Sydney Amateur Winemakers Club https://www.sydneyawc.com/   🎙️ Clip from The Wined Up Podcast  📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow us on Instagram @the.wined.up  🌐 Visit https://www.thewinedup.com.au 📩 [email protected]  We Drink. We Learn. We Connect. Drink Responsibly. 🍷 Follow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].    Drink More, Try More, Learn More.

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Wined Up Podcast, we sit down with Roman Aujoulat from Château La Nerthe in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. One of the Rhône Valley’s most historic estates to unpack what tradition really means when you’re the next generation helping carry it forward.   Roman grew up in the Rhône surrounded by wine at the dinner table, but stepping into a role representing one of the region’s benchmark estates still came with challenge and trepidation. From that first emotional Loire Valley Chardonnay moment that pulled him into wine, to travelling the world pouring Châteauneuf-du-Pape in places like Sydney, this conversation moves between personal story and deep regional insight in the best possible way.  Along the way we explore why Châteauneuf-du-Pape allows up to 18 grape varieties, how blending gives growers freedom in a changing climate, and why Grenache still quietly shapes the identity of the region. Roman also shares the lesser-known history behind Château La Nerthe itself, including Roman amphitheatre stones hidden in the cellar walls and sealed wartime cellars rediscovered decades later.  We taste through Rhône whites, Beaujolais Gamay, Châteauneuf-du-Pape whites and mature Châteauneuf-du-Pape reds while talking about ageing windows, vintage expression, and what it means to evolve a historic estate without losing its soul.  ⏱️ Chapters  00:00 – “You don’t need to be a pro to enjoy wine” 00:00:18 – Ice Breaker  00:04:00 – What Châteauneuf-du-Pape pairs best with at the table  00:05:42 – First tasting: Rhône white blend from La Nerthe  00:08:02 – Growing up with wine in the Rhône Valley  00:10:00 – Getting the call to represent La Nerthe  00:10:36 – What makes Rhône… Rhône?  00:12:39 – Robert Parker and global fame for Châteauneuf-du-Pape  00:13:00 – Why Châteauneuf-du-Pape allows 13 (or 18) grapes  00:16:27 – Why vintage variation matters more than consistency here  00:17:03 – The Richard family story: wine in Paris 140 years ago  00:20:25 – Second tasting: Beaujolais Gamay surprise  00:23:59 – How Château La Nerthe survived five centuries  00:26:21 – Phylloxera, rootstocks and saving the vineyards  00:29:22 – Hidden Roman stones and sealed WWII cellar stories  00:34:54 – What goes into white Châteauneuf-du-Pape  00:36:18 – How white Rhône wines age (and when to drink them)  00:48:58 – Modern vs old-school La Nerthe winemaking styles  00:49:06 – Mature Châteauneuf-du-Pape reds and ageing windows  00:57:22 – Final reflections + visiting Château La Nerthe  👉 Subscribe to @thewinedup and tell us below:  What’s your favourite Châteauneuf-du-Pape? Drop it in the comments 👇  Go check out Chateau Le Nerthe   https://www.domainesrichard.fr/chateau-la-nerthe/en/  🎙️ Clip from The Wined Up Podcast  📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow us on Instagram @the.wined.up  🌐 Visit https://www.thewinedup.com.au  📩 [email protected]  #chateaulenerthe #domainesrichard #cdp #chateauneufdupape #TheWinedUpPodcast #wedrinkwelearnweconnect  We Drink. We Learn. We Connect. Drink Responsibly. 🍷  Follow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].    Drink More, Try More, Learn More.

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Wined Up Podcast, we sit down with Dan Eggleton from Ben Murray Wines in the Barossa to talk about something the wine world rarely talks about. The pressure behind the label, the reality facing boutique producers right now, and why sometimes stepping back is the bravest decision you can make. Dan shares what led him to pause a vintage after nearly 30 years of making wine, how health and timing collided with a tough season, and what it felt like emotionally to draw that line. There’s honesty here about identity, resilience, and what happens when passion and practicality start pulling in different directions. Along the way we taste through new-release Mataro from Marananga, talk Barossa sub-regions, vineyard expression, and why some grapes quietly disappear into blends instead of standing on their own. There’s also stories from the early Ben Murray days, the growers who shaped the journey, and a moment involving a 1943 Madeira that reminds you why wine matters in the first place. But more than anything, this episode opens up a bigger conversation — about mental health in agriculture, in wine, and in industries where people are expected to just keep pushing through. If you’ve ever wondered what really goes on behind a vintage decision, this one’s worth settling in for. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Preview  00:00:49 Intro - Is self-care an ingredient in making wine?  00:02:17 The Wined Up Ice Breaker with Dan Eggleton 00:06:19 Ben Murray Wines – New Releases  00:06:48 Why Ben Murray released a straight Mataro  00:09:15 What makes Marananga different in the Barossa  00:15:09 The decision not to make a vintage  00:17:00 When stepping back is harder than making wine  00:20:00 Why boutique winemakers across Australia are reassessing  00:30:20 Ben Murray Barossa and Marananga Shiraz 00:34:11 Mental Health and Mateship Breakfasts 00:47:33 What gives hope for the future of wine culture 00:49:51 Ben Murray Anima Grenache  00:54:48 Ben Murray Reserve Shiraz 👉 Subscribe to @thewinedup and tell us on what is your favourite Ben Murray wine? Have you reached out to your mate?  Drop it in the comments 👇 Go check out the Ben Murray wines at https://www.benmurraywines.com/ and if you are interested about the Mateship Breakfast, reach out to [email protected]  🎙️ Clip from The Wined Up Podcast  📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow us on Instagram @the.wined.up  🌐 Visit https://www.thewinedup.com.au 📩 [email protected] #benmurraywines #mentalhealth #mataro #shiraz #barossa #marananga #mateshipbreakfast #TheWinedUpPodcast #wedrinkwelearnweconnect We Drink. We Learn. We Connect. Drink Responsibly. 🍷 Follow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].    Drink More, Try More, Learn More.

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Wined Up Podcast, we sit down with Valtteri Bottas — Formula 1 driver, wine lover, gin maker, coffee roaster, off-road adventurer… and yes, calendar model. We chat about how his partnership with Corrina Wright from Oliver’s Taranga led to the creation of IHANA. A wine that brings together Finnish spirit and McLaren Vale heart. We delve into the topics of:  ·       What is the Valtteri Bottas wine journey? ·       IHANA wine and what is it all about? ·       The overlaps and comparisons of F1 and wine worlds ·       Delve into the fascinating subject of mindset of 2 perfectionists at their own craft ·       We have fun with Finnish and Australian culture These interviews is what really fascinates me, the stories, the insights, the revelations, the deep thought and understanding of the people behind the wine.    Chapters   00:00 Preview  00:46 Intro 02:03 Valtteri Bottas Icebreaker questions 06:58 Corrina Wright’s Icebreaker questions 08:57 Where Valtteri’s wine journey began 10:18 Wine culture in Finland today 13:20 The origins of the Ihana collaboration 20:05 Why the wine is called “Ihana”  20:40 Working together as two perfectionists 27:20 The thought process of creating Ihana 29:20 The meaning of the label 33:00 Ihana Edition #3 35:50 The 1 percenters  40:20 Instinct vs Science 41:00 Flow state 45:30 The difference between good and great  48:30 Reflection 54:20 Finnish culture vs Australian culture  58:30 Finnish vs Australian Food 1:00:40 Lighting Round Questions 1:04:51 Final thoughts and messages for listeners   Subscribe to @thewinedup and comment on what was your favourite insight on Ihana and the podcast? Have you tried Ihana and was it ihana for you?  Check out the IHANA Wines at https://ihanawine.com/ and Oliver’s Taranga (https://www.oliverstaranga.com/)  Follow Us on Instagram (The.Wined.Up) or TikTok (@thewinedup).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au/ or email us at [email protected]. #valtteribottas #oliverstarranga #formula1 #ihana #ihanawine #cadillacf1 #TheWinedUpPodcast  Follow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].    Drink More, Try More, Learn More.

Send us Fan Mail Taste the Mountains!!!  In this episode of The Wined Up Podcast, we sit down with Dan Sangermani from Invidia Wines and Ned Goodwin Master of Wine to explore a world most people don’t even realise exists… Swiss wine. When you think Switzerland, you think chocolate, watches, skiing… Not wine. This is because they only export 1 – 2% of their wine with the rest being kept to themselves! We can now discover the often hidden secret world of Swiss wines Join us via the liquid postcard, and visit Switzerland vicariously through the glass with us at The Wined Up.  ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Intro  00:34 Should we be envious of Swiss wines?  01:10 Why no one thinks about Swiss wine  02:00 Meet the guests (and the mission)  02:45 Icebreaker — most memorable wine moment  03:40 The last glass you had  04:10 Who would you share a bottle with?  05:10 The wine tied to regret and family  06:30 Unexpected food and wine pairings  07:20 Biggest lesson from wine  08:10 If your life was a vintage…  09:00 The trip that changed everything  10:30 A once-in-a-lifetime bottle  12:00 When wine and health collide  13:30 The reality of drinking professionally  15:30 Where the Swiss wine journey began  17:00 The wine that sparked everything  18:30 From curiosity to importing Swiss wine Subscribe to @thewinedup and comment on whether you have discovered Swiss wines? Or your Swiss adventure?  Go check out some Swiss wines at https://invidiawines.com/  Follow Us on Instagram (The.Wined.Up) or TikTok (@thewinedup).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au/ or email us at [email protected]. #NedGoodwinMW #InvidiaWines #Ticino #SwissWine #WineTalk #AffordableWine #TheWinedUpPodcast Follow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].    Drink More, Try More, Learn More.