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Top Shelf chasing profit; Brookie’s Excise Strength Gin; Oliver’s Taranga wine & Small Acres Cyder

In this edition of the news on Drinks Adventures:

Top Shelf declares pathway to profitability;
Cape Byron campaigns for tax relief with Excise Strength Gin;
Business booming at McLaren Vale winery, Oliver’s Taranga; and
New lease on life for Orange, NSW cider maker Small Acres.

Click here to open episode in your podcast player.

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How to drink Australian is a landmark wine book by

How to drink Australian is a landmark wine book by American sommeliers @janeymaxine and @dj_gramenon.

Jane and Jonathan have intimate knowledge of the wine scene in Australia, having both worked professionally here; Jane as wine director at renowned Melbourne restaurant Attica, and Jonathan as beverage director at Rockpool Dining Group.

Jane and Jonathan were so blown away by the wines they experienced during their time here that upon returning to the US in 2020 they founded @auswinelegends, a wine imports company specialising in Australian wine.

Incidentally, the Legend roster includes a couple of producers that have previously featured on this podcast; Sailor Seeks Horse and Stargazer out of Tasmania.

With their new book, How to Drink Australian, Jane and Jonathan aim to fill the void of quality literature on Australian wine.

It features exhaustive analysis of every significant region, stunning and detailed maps, producer profiles and more, all curated with a reverence for Australia’s first custodians.

I caught up with Jane recently for this interview that I’m excited to share with you on the Drinks Adventures podcast. Link in my bio to listen.

When Seb Costello opened the cocktail bar Bad Fran

When Seb Costello opened the cocktail bar Bad Frankie in Melbourne in 2014, he did something that was almost unthinkable at the time; creating a drinks menu comprised completely of Australian craft spirits.⁠
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Seb understandably became known as a champion of Australian distilling. This, coupled with his sensory skills and broad appreciation for different spirits categories, saw him appointed chief judge of the Australian Distilled Spirits Awards in 2020.⁠
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At the time of this episode going to air, Seb and the other judges – led by new chief judge, Shaun Byrne – were preparing to appraise this year’s entries to the ADSA, the only spirits competition endorsed by the Australian Distillers Association.⁠
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This seemed like the appropriate juncture to have a long overdue chat with Seb on the Drinks Adventures podcast. ⁠
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First up, we get his reflections on those three years as lead official of the ADSA.⁠
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Link in my bio to listen.

Holly Klintworth of @bassandflinders returns to th

Holly Klintworth of @bassandflinders returns to the podcast having recently returned from a six-week internship in Cognac, supported by a Churchill Fellowship.⁠
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The trip had the objective of learning the art of brandy production from leading cognac producers, so that she could share her findings with the Australian industry.⁠
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I wanted to find out how Holly got on in this endeavour. And coupled with that, how she’s settling in to her dual role as president of the Australian Distillers Association.⁠
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Holly has only been in the chair since November 2022 and has already had to deal with some contentious issues, like the misleading usage of the term ‘single malt’ by some distillers, which I also discussed recently on the show with Tasmanian Whisky & Spirits Association president Cam Brett.⁠
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We also cover the divisive debate around base spirit in gin, fuelled by a recent article in the mainstream media, and some controversy surrounding Australian distilleries and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. ⁠
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Link in my bio to listen.

In S16E11 of the podcast we caught up with @stonea

Tasmania is the birthplace of Australian whisky in

Tasmania is the birthplace of Australian whisky in the modern era, with unique positioning as the country’s only island state.⁠
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For some time now its distillers have entertained the idea of protecting these attributes with a geographical indication or appellation ensuring that products labelled ‘Tasmanian whisky’ meet certain standards.⁠
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Recently on the Drinks Adventures podcast we met Cam and Suzy Brett of @SpringBayDistillery in Tasmania.⁠
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Cam is also president of the Tasmanian Whisky and Spirits Association, and during that same interview Cam and I went down a bit of a rabbit hole talking about the GI for Tassie whisky, and other industry concerns.⁠
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I thought that conversation deserved a separate episode, which starts with Cam updating us on how many distilleries there are currently in Tasmania. ⁠
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Listen via link in my bio. ⁠

Established in 2015 at Spring Beach in Tasmania, @

Established in 2015 at Spring Beach in Tasmania, @springbaydistillery is the realisation of a dream for whisky-loving owners Cam and Suzy Brett.⁠
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We’ve actually heard from Cam a couple of times previously on this podcast; in one of my news bulletins back in 2021, and in the special Lark 30th anniversary episode in 2022.⁠
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So it’s long overdue I invited Cam and Suzy on for an in-depth chat about Spring Bay.⁠
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While it’s definitely single malt whisky that inspired their distillery, Spring Bay has also enjoyed success with its gin and vodka, the latter of which was the Australian champion varietal vodka at the World Vodka Awards 2023. ⁠
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In this episode, Cam and Suzy will fill you in on some of the other recent developments at the company.⁠
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First up though, Suzy reflects on their pathway to owning a distillery, having shared a love of whisky for more than 20 years.⁠
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Speyside is the absolute epicentre of Scotland’s

Chandon Etoile is a new ultra-prestige sparkling c

Chandon Etoile is a new ultra-prestige sparkling cuvee from @chandonaus in Victoria’s Yarra Valley.⁠
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It’s a multi-vintage blend comprised of eight Chandon Vintage Brut reserves – which together represent hundreds of base wines – rounded out with extended ageing.⁠
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With us this episode to discuss the groundbreaking project is Chandon Australia winemaking director @mrdanbuckle, who has been guiding the company’s traditional-method winemaking since 2012. ⁠
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Through our conversation about Etoile, Dan and I naturally explore the evolution of Chandon Australia, one of six Chandon houses globally, which was founded in 1986.⁠
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This fascinating chat was made possible by the support of Chandon Australia.

Recently on the podcast, an awesome episode with @

Recently on the podcast, an awesome episode with @banksandbloom co-founder, biochemist Elaine Darby.
Elaine’s background caught my eye when a media release came through recently announcing that Banks and Bloom Ice Vodka had been awarded Doubled Gold in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Between 2015 and 2018, Elaine was managing director of Auscann, an Australian pharmaceutical company focused on cannabinoid-based medicines.

She’s also had careers as a winemaker and a lawyer, but it’s the medicinal cannabis that is relevant to today’s episode.

Banks & Bloom owes its origins to another business founded by Elaine called Aquila Black, which has developed THC extract technology that they believe will revolutionise the cannabis drinks market overseas, where recreational cannabis is legal.

To create cannabis drinks with a distinctly Australian accent, Aquila Black pioneered new distillation methods to extract pure clarity of flavour from native Australian ingredients.

And as Elaine discovered, this R&D into new flavour technology could be successfully applied in the production of spirits - gin, vodka and RTDs - that are devoid of any illicit ingredients.

I talked wine with Allan Border recently, specific

I talked wine with Allan Border recently, specifically his new @sanguine_wines limited edition shiraz. Couldn’t resist asking his predictions for #ashes2023 afterwards 😉

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