The Cellar Door Podcast Tom Massey

I recently managed to grab Ashley Ratcliff, the owner of Ricca Terra Wines, for a quick update on his recent activities. Ashley is a passionate crusader for the Australian wine cause and also for what is possibly one of the most misunderstood regions in the Australian wine landscape, South Australia’s Riverland. Ashley’s time and travels in and across the industry have given him acute perspectives and an eye for opportunity, and after a recent trip to the USA, Ashley believes more than ever t...

Darren Rathbone is the CEO and head Wine Maker in charge of the Rathbone Group, a family run enterprise responsible for Victoria’s Mount Langi Ghiran and Yering Station and Xanadu in Margaret River, WA. The Rathbone Group entered the Chinese market in around 2007, saw its rise and saw its collapse with the imposition of the Chinese tariffs. Now that the tariffs have been lifted the Rathbone Group is cautiously re-entering the Chinese market. Darren sat down with me to give a snapshot overview...

Giles Cooke MW is one of the industry leaders behind the sensational wave of new age Grenache sweeping across the McLaren vale and Barossa. He also brings bucketloads of perspective given his wealth of industry background developed in the European market - not to mention the big initials MW next to his name. Giles is all about excitement and innovation and doing what it takes to establish his wines in the premium market domestically and abroad. Giles and I talk about Giles’s story, what’s goi...

This is my first episode recorded since arriving in Santa Barbara, and I couldn’t think of a better way to start than by getting the Santa Barbara story, plus the story of a winery that forms part of Californian history. Who better to share the story than one of the legends of the Santa Barbara wine scene, Wes Hagen. A huge thanks to Wes for joining me. Support the Show.

There is nothing as important as going back to basics, so I called on wine rockstar Doug Neal for some education – on the topic of oak and its role in the wine world. As always, its difficult to be comprehensive, especially when you’re on the clock, but the passionate teacher in Doug came out and I found his class very insightful. A huge thanks to Doug for joining me. Support the Show.

It’s important to tie off loose ends, so I sat down with Jeremy Oliver a second time to cap off the themes in his recently release paper to the wine industry. We discussed China’s decision to lift the tariffs on Australian wine imports, the difficulties posed where a duopoly controls a consumer market and we discussed some of the feedback from our first chat. As always - fun and insightful. A massive thanks to Jeremy for joining me.Support the Show.