The Wined Up

42:44

How good is Australian Pinot Noir?

The Wined Up ·

2026/10/03

Send us Fan MailTen 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

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75:29

Stepping Out of One of Australia's Greatest Wine Cellars

The Wined Up ·

2026/09/19

Send us Fan MailMark 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

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50:35

Mark Best – To Infinity and beyond!

The Wined Up ·

2026/09/05

Send us Fan MailMark 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

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56:52

Five Way Cellars – One of Sydney’s Wine Institutions

The Wined Up ·

2026/08/22

Send us Fan MailIn 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

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52:53

The Winemaker Trying to Prove Wine Doesn't Need the...

The Wined Up ·

2026/08/08

Send us Fan MailWhat 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

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56:20

Is Ashton Hills Making Australia's Best Pinot Noir?

The Wined Up ·

2026/07/25

Send us Fan MailA 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

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12:19

Is This Portugal’s Most Exciting New Winery? | ODE Wines

The Wined Up ·

2026/07/11

Send us Fan MailWhat 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

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74:03

How does Lee Ho Fook interpret modern Chinese cuisine?

The Wined Up ·

2026/06/27

Send us Fan MailWhat 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

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11:31

How One Family Took Us Around the World in 4 Wines

The Wined Up ·

2026/06/13

Send us Fan MailWhat 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

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38:00

Australia’s Best Chardonnay? The Blind Tasting...

The Wined Up ·

2026/05/30

Send us Fan MailWhat 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

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58:43

He Turned His Garage into a Winery (And Learned Fast)...

The Wined Up ·

2026/05/16

Send us Fan MailIn 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

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58:03

What Does 500 Years of Wine History Taste Like? With...

The Wined Up ·

2026/05/02

Send us Fan MailIn 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

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57:49

Is Self-Care an Ingredient in Making Wine? With Dan...

The Wined Up ·

2026/04/18

Send us Fan MailIn 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

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65:58

Inside the Story of IHANA with Valtteri Bottas &...

The Wined Up ·

2026/04/04

Send us Fan MailThis 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

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71:23

Why Australia should be curious about Swiss Wines?

The Wined Up ·

2026/03/21

Send us Fan MailTaste 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 winesJoin us via the liquid postcard, and

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9:39

Aldi Blackstone Wine: Hidden Gems or Just Cheap Bottles?

The Wined Up ·

2026/03/07

Send a textMost of us love wine… but let’s be honest — not all of us can open $80 bottles every week. So today on The Wined Up Podcast, we ask a question that’s probably crossed every wine drinker’s mind while walking past the supermarket aisle: Is Aldi wine actually good value… or is it just cheap wine? After seeing the hype online (and struggling to even find bottles because they kept selling out), Trent dives into Aldi’s Blackstone Paddock range — a lineup designed to deliver regional Australian

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27:29

A $1000 Wine With a Golden Gaytime?! Merrick Watts...

The Wined Up ·

2026/02/21

Send a textWhat’s the one wine you’d taste if you were on your deathbed? Merrick Watts got asked that exact question… and it kicked off a proper “we have to do this” moment on the pod.In this episode of The Wined Up, Merrick returns (yep — first guest back!) and we crack into Château d’Yquem (half-bottle, because… reality), talk why sweet wines get underrated, and then do the most Aussie pairing experiment imaginable: d’Yquem + a Golden Gaytime. We also get into Merrick’s Roman-inspired hydration

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39:09

Merrick Watts on Comedy, Discipline & Wine 🍷 | The...

The Wined Up ·

2026/02/14

Send a textPublic speaking is humanity’s biggest fear — so why does Merrick Watts love stand-up comedy?In this episode of The Wined Up, we sit down with Australian comedian and wine enthusiast Merrick Watts to explore the mindset behind performance, the evolution of comedy in the social media era, and what real discipline looks like behind the scenes.We also dive into wine stories, including a memorable Rockford Black Shiraz moment, the evolution of An Idiot’s Guide to Wine Volume 3. Topics

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22:36

What Wine Goes With Frangos Portuguese Chicken?

The Wined Up ·

2026/02/07

Send us a textWhat wine actually works with Frangos Portuguese chicken? Today we put it to the test. Frangos is one of Sydney’s most loved Portuguese chicken spots, famous for its charcoal grilled chicken, smoky flavours, and that iconic chilli sauce. The challenge is real. You have spice, char, smoke, and white meat all on the same plate, and that can ruin the wrong wine fast. In this episode, we take on a proper wine pairing challenge with Frangos. We taste the chicken first, then try two wines

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23:21

Exploring Pizzini Wines: Beyond Prosecco

The Wined Up ·

2026/01/31

Send us a textWhen most people hear Pizzini Wines, they think Prosecco, and honestly, so did I. But this episode completely flipped that idea on its head. Today on The Wine Up Podcast, Trent and I dive deep into Pizzini Wines from Victoria’s King Valley and discover just how much more there is beyond the bubbles. We explore Italian grape varieties grown in Australian soil, from Sangiovese and Nebbiolo to a surprisingly complex Pinot Grigio and a bold, blended red that brings Italy and Australia

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