Ihana Wine is a boutique wine brand launched by Finnish Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas in partnership with sixth generation McLaren Vale wine company Oliver’s Taranga. A ten-time race winner currently driving for the Kick Sauber F1 team, Valtteri shares with us his longstanding passion for wine, and specifically South Australian shiraz, which has been crystallised through his relationship with South Australian Tiffany Cromwell, the professional cyclist. Listen in as Valtteri opens up about the blending process, collaborating with Oliver’s Taranga winemaker Corrina Wright, and how he balanc ..read more

We're joined this episode by the founders of Sydney’s newest craft brewery, Chuck & Son’s Brewing Company. And yes, we’re talking about Chuck Hahn, who is sensationally making a return to the brewing industry in partnership with his son Scott. Chuck notched up 50 years in the brewing industry in 2021, which we celebrated on this podcast with this special documentary episode. I naively thought that would be a footnote to his incredible brewing career. But it turns out Chuck has unfinished business. Together with Scott, the next chapter begins May 2024 at a new brewery in St Peters in the in ..read more

Rollo Crittenden is general manager, winemaker and vineyard manager of Crittenden Wines in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula region. Mornington Peninsula is synonymous with premium quality pinot noir and chardonnay, and Crittenden certainly excels at making wine from those varieties. But when it comes to differentiating the winery from its peers, Rollo has an ace up his sleeve. Since 2011, Crittenden has been making a rare Australian example of the white wines made from savagnin grapes that are unique to the Jura region of France. Known as ‘vin jaune’ wines in Jura, they’re aged for years i ..read more

Rollo Crittenden is general manager, winemaker and vineyard manager of Crittenden Wines in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula region. Mornington Peninsula is synonymous with premium quality pinot noir and chardonnay, and Crittenden certainly excels at making wine from those varieties. But when it comes to differentiating the winery from its peers, Rollo has an ace up his sleeve. Since 2011, Crittenden has been making a rare Australian example of the white wines made from savagnin grapes that are unique to the Jura region of France. Known as ‘vin jaune’ wines in Jura, they’re aged for years i ..read more

The Australian Distillers Association is the peak body for the 700 craft distillers that are now spread across the country, up from just 40 a decade ago. I work pretty closely with the ADA and its chief executive Paul McLeay in my day job as media & communications manager of Spirits & Cocktails Australia. In this bonus episode, Paul and I catch up for a quick chat about the ADA Conference coming up in Brisbane on April 28 to 30, 2024, which is the association’s 20th anniversary year. I know quite a few of you are in the distilling industry, so Paul and I will hope to see you there. Sin ..read more

The Australian Distillers Association is the peak body for the 700 craft distillers that are now spread across the country, up from just 40 a decade ago. I work pretty closely with the ADA and its chief executive Paul McLeay in my day job as media & communications manager of Spirits & Cocktails Australia. In this bonus episode, Paul and I catch up for a quick chat about the ADA Conference coming up in Brisbane on April 28 to 30, 2024, which is the association’s 20th anniversary year. I know quite a few of you are in the distilling industry, so Paul and I will hope to see you there. Sin ..read more

Last year I reported on the worrying spate of insolvencies in the drinks industry, particularly among craft brewers. And things have gotten even worse so far in 2024. Dave Padden of Sydney’s Akasha Brewing was pretty open with us last year on the show about the difficulties his business was confronting. Sadly, Akasha last week became the latest brewery to enter voluntary administration. In this episode I’m joined by Dale Meddings, joint CEO of Bintani, Australia’s leading supplier of ingredients to the brewing and distilling industries, and a long-term sponsor of the podcast. Coming up, Dale s ..read more

Back in early 2023 we met Jeremy Blanks and Greg Jackson of Tarac, the largest distiller of grape spirit in Australia, which is diversifying into the contract production of whisky. Twelve months on, Jeremy and Greg return to the show having recently had their first trial whiskies come of age. I’ve had a chance to taste these whiskies that have been column distilled from malted barley, and was really impressed with them. Don’t take my word for it though, if you’re a distiller and heading to the Australian Distillers Association Conference in Brisbane at the end of April, you can try these whisk ..read more

We’re joined again this episode by Andrew Caillard MW, one of Australia’s leading authorities on wine. Andrew was last on the show in November 2020 discussing the debut of two Australian wines on the prestigious international wine marketplace, La Place de Bordeaux. This time Andrew joins us to discuss his magnum opus, The Australian Ark, the most extensive history of the Australian wine industry ever written. First up, Andrew and I discuss the challenges involved with getting a book of this scale and ambition off the ground. We then explore just a handful of the individuals and events that hav ..read more

Satya Sharma is the new CEO of Australia’s pioneering whisky company, Lark Distilling. Sash – as he prefers to be called – has only been on deck since May 2023. But already, he has put his stamp on the Lark business. The frenzy of special releases has been dialled back in favour of a clearly defined core range. Export deals have been announced for several markets in South East Asia. 700ml bottles are on the cards, and as you just heard, the business has committed to greater transparency about the provenance of whiskies that carry the Lark name. Sash joined Lark following ten years with William ..read more