Steve Flamsteed grew up in a full and lively household and succumbed to the pleasure of feeding people at a young age.

Infected by punk energy from a young age, this lifelong devotee of good music has never lost the instinct of providing for—and feeding off—others.

At the same time, a man whose curiosity led to a career-seeking quandary because cheffing, cheesemaking and wine all called with equally seductive siren voices.

And though he chose wine, you feel the fusion of these things fuels his every move.

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Steve is best known to most people for his 20-year stint as winemaker at Giant Steps, whose single-vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir program was part-funded by the fast-growing wine brand Innocent Bystander.

Steve joined serial drinks entrepreneur Phil Sexton—the man behind WA winery Devil’s Lair and the beer labels Little Creatures and Matilda Bay—right at the start, creating a multi-faceted drinks brand alongside a high-end label pushing the Aussie envelope with cool-climate site expression. Innocent Bystander has since been sold to Brown Brothers and Giant Steps to US group Jackson Family Estates. Mel Chester now makes the wines for the latter.

The Beaujolais estate Steve works at is Domaine Saint Charles, where he met Dean Hewitson, who runs his Hewitson label out of the Barossa Valley. Milawa Cheese Company is where Steve worked with founder David Brown in Victoria’s King Valley. And I hope Steve whets your appetite for what I hope will be more Beechworth in the show. The names he mentions are Giaconda, Savaterre, Sorrenberg and A. Rodda.

Steve is the third alumnus of Roseworthy Agricultural College to appear on the podcast. Meg Brodtmann (episode 9) and, especially, PJ Charteris (episode 8) shine a light on this storied Australian institution. While he was there, he mentions sharing a flat with Dave Bicknell and Nicky Harris, a husband-and-wife team these days making wines under the Bicknell FC label, while Dave is better known as the winemaking force behind Oakridge in the Yarra Valley.

And we didn’t talk about the exceptional Yarra Valley Chardonnay Steve makes with his friend Dave Mackintosh under the Salo label (not much of it around, but do seek it out; it’s a brilliant wine). We did, however, mention his Decades project from Tasmania, and I hope you’ll be tempted to see what Steve does with that vineyard after hearing what makes this warm, intelligent, sensitive soul tick. You can here more about it in our bonus episode.

Finally, Steve mentions a couple of things that are piquing those interests. One is the mezcal and tequila family of drinks deriving from the agave plant; the other shoutout goes to Lachlan Barber and the salty, briny wonders he's importing from his Sydney-based company, Cortez Trading Co.

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