The Vincast - a wine podcast with The Intrepid Wino

Two things in Nathan Earl’s life coalesced for him to create (and star in) the innovative wine program Plonk. The first was growing up in the Hunter Valley and several of his family working in cellar doors, giving him an early appreciation for Australian wine. The second was a career in Australian television, much of which was spent working with comedy “guerrillas” The Chaser. Starring alongside Nathan is university friend Josh Tyler and Chaser member Chris Taylor. Plonk is a tongue-in-cheek look at Australian wine and the creation of a fictional wine program, and how things can so easily go wrong.

Randall Pollard is a name in Victoria synonymous with independent fine-wine sales, having worked in the industry for almost 20 years before opening his own wine store in Geelong (Randall's), and then importing a range of outstanding artisan wines from France and Europe (Heart & Soil). His love of wine stems from sneaking glasses of wine from the cask at the age of 15, enjoying it with cheese and bread. He shared more stories from his career on this episode of The Vincast.

Randall Pollard is a name in Victoria synonymous with independent fine-wine sales, having worked in the industry for almost 20 years before opening his own wine store in Geelong (Randall’s), and then importing a range of outstanding artisan wines from France and Europe (Heart & Soil). His love of wine stems from sneaking glasses of wine from the cask at the age of 15, enjoying it with cheese and bread. He shared more stories from his career on this episode of The Vincast.

Il Mosnel was only the third domaine created in Franciacorta to make metodo classico wines from chardonnay, pinot noir (nero) and pinot blanc (bianco), way back when the DOC was created in the 1960s. Emanuela Barboglio was the matriarch of Franciacorta as the first woman to run an estate, and distinguished herself by focusing on white varieties – particularly pinot bianco. Her children now run the estate, and daughter Lucia Barzanò joined me on this episode whilst she was in Australia to talk about Il Mosnel and Franciacorta.​

Il Mosnel was only the third domaine created in Franciacorta to make metodo classico wines from chardonnay, pinot noir (nero) and pinot blanc (bianco), way back when the DOC was created in the 1960s. Emanuela Barboglio was the matriarch of Franciacorta as the first woman to run an estate, and distinguished herself by focusing on white varieties - particularly pinot bianco. Her children now run the estate, and daughter Lucia Barzanò joined me on this episode whilst she was in Australia to talk about Il Mosnel and Franciacorta.​

Brendan Carter is quite possibly the most exciting young winemaker in Australia I have encountered of late, crafting outstanding wines – particularly for the price – from a range of varieties, many of them Italian. Based in the Adelaide Hills the Unico Zelo wines, crafted with the assistance of his wife Laura, are ones that you should keep an eye out for if you can find them, they’re still made in very small volumes. Brendan joined me on this episode of The Vincast to chat about his experiences and where he’d like to take Unico Zelo in the future.​

Weingut Gunderloch in the Rheinhessen region of Germany is one the greatest wineries in Europe if you are in the know. They are the only winery in the world to have received 100 points for the same wine in three separate vintages, for their incredibly rare trockenbeerenauslese (TBA). Johannes Hasselbach hadn't intended on running his family's estate, until in 2010 when his father became ill (since recovered), and his sister who had been involved with the winemaking relocating to Austria to work with her husband. An intrepid philosophy led Johannes to travel and explore, and he has slowly began to introduce this into the winery since then. He joined me in the Treasury Gardens of Melbourne on a sunny morning to talk about his journey.​

Passion was the driving force behind Josh Elias and his desire to breathe new life into drinks with Alquimie Magazine. Much of this was due to the fact that his family have no background in wine, deciding to pursue a career in the industry rather than follow one in law which he has a degree in, or in textiles which is the family business. Josh joined me on this episode to talk about how he came to work in some of the best restaurants in Melbourne, furthered his wine knowledge and appreciation through study, and created one of the most exciting beverage publications in the world.​

It's impossible not to like Bill Downie as he is such a down-to-earth person, a brilliantly talented winemaker, and is also incredibly humble. His skills are not his technical prowess, skills which he picked up for the most part learning on the job, but his ability to simply capture the essence of what nature provides in a certain place. He joined me on this episode of The Vincast to discuss his background, his approaches to wine, and how he imparts as little of himself to his pinot noir for William Downie Wines and the singular 1000 Candles from the Yarra Valley.

It’s impossible not to like Bill Downie as he is such a down-to-earth person, a brilliantly talented winemaker, and is also incredibly humble. His skills are not his technical prowess, skills which he picked up for the most part learning on the job, but his ability to simply capture the essence of what nature provides in a certain place. He joined me on this episode of The Vincast to discuss his background, his approaches to wine, and how he imparts as little of himself to his pinot noir for William Downie Wines and the singular 1000 Candles from the Yarra Valley.