Michael Schmelzer is a citizen of the world, brought up in Italy, France, Germany and the United States. Today, his home is the beautiful Monte Bernardi estate in Chianti Classico, a property that his family has owned since 2003. Though Australia-trained, he’s a winemaker who believes in the traditional European ways of doing things, using biodynamic farming to get the best out of his vineyards and keeping intervention in the cellar to a minimum.

To read more about Michael have a look at the Monte Bernardi website. You can also follow him on Instagram at @michael_montebernardi.

Don’t forget, Cork Talk is now available on Spotify as well as Apple Podcasts, where you can listen to this week’s episode, plus my back catalogue of interviews with some of the world’s most extraordinary wine figures.