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Joe Fattorini shares some secrets on how to maximize your entertainment value as a presenter during a wine tasting!

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Patrick White is the lead Somm and Cellar Master at the Adelaide Club. With a resume like his, it's no wonder he has the trust of both the Club and the wider industry. An Adelaide local, Patrick has been a somm since 2001, working his way across the country, from top end restaurants in Sydney to the Penfolds Maggill Restaurant and the Mt Lofty House Estate in the Adelaide Hills where he was nominated for both wine list and somm of the year. Patrick also was a participant in the 2010 Len Evans Tutorial. So with his credentials firmly established, my goal was to identify the interrelationship between a formal education and training and the practical skills a hospitality professional uses day to day to create incredible experiences for patrons. Patrick’s experience is apparent and it was a real pleasure to host him on the CDP. A huge thanks to Patrick for joining me.

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Today’s guest is Adam Coward, someone who’s worn a lot of hats across his career, from tourism in the Top End, to retail and fast-moving consumer goods, and now, to helping wineries unlock growth through Vin Creative and Uno Vino.

Adam’s journey is fascinating because he’s not from a wine background originally, yet he’s bringing in ideas and lessons from other industries that could reshape how wineries think about sales, marketing, and customer experience. We talk about the tough realities small wineries face, why intimacy with customers matters more than ever, and how technology can be used without losing the human touch.

This is a big-picture conversation that still comes back to the cellar door, that pivotal moment when someone walks in, tastes your wine, and decides whether they’ll come back for more.

A huge thanks to Adam for joining me.

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Milly Hoffmann, or Miss Hoffmann to the students at Nuriootpa High School, has been working tirelessly with her class on a remarkable mission: raising the funds to travel to their sister city, Grapevine in Texas, USA. At its heart, this connection is about more than a trip; it’s about cultural exchange, shared experiences, and building relationships that last.

Milly also plays a leading role in the school’s Vines and Wines Program, a certificate-based course designed to create real pathways into the wine industry. The students aren’t just learning theory: they’re hands-on, producing 12,000 bottles of Barossan wine each year. Programs like this one, and the similar initiative run by Marcus Cook at Upper Yarra Secondary College, who first connected me with Milly, are where the next generation of the wine industry is cultivated, nurtured, and inspired.

So in this episode, I invite you to hear Milly’s passion, discover the impact of her students’ work, and maybe even find a way to support their incredible mission. A huge thanks to Milly for joining me.

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Mike Madaio loves history, sandwiches, and above all, wine—and the industry that brings it to life. A respected wine writer, his long-form pieces have featured in Wine Enthusiast and on his own blog, Life at Table. While Mike has a deep appreciation for traditional forms of media and communication, he is equally attuned to the modern world of user experience (UX)—a factor that can make or break a business.

Mike believes UX is one of the most overlooked elements of the wine industry, and he’s made it his specialty, writing passionately about how it shapes everything from the cellar door to a winery’s website and online presence. In this conversation, we explore his unique perspectives on UX, its role in building meaningful wine experiences, and—of course—his definitive take on the best Philly sandwich.

A big thanks to Mike for joining me on the podcast.

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Stephen Mok is on a mission to make sure the wine industry doesn’t miss its moment with artificial intelligence.

As Founder of Vintage Labs, Stephen has spent the past few years embedded in the practical reality of AI experimenting, prototyping, and testing what actually moves the needle for wine businesses. He has built automations, stress-tested emerging tools, and logged countless hours separating hype from true opportunity.

Stephen didn’t arrive at wine technology through the usual path. His early career in sales drilled home the fundamentals of trust, value, and problem-solving. Later, as a product leader in Seattle, he specialized in turning big, complicated visions into working solutions. At every step, he honed the same craft: translating technical complexity into results that matter.

Now, at Vintage Labs, Stephen applies that discipline to wine. He’s not here to sell a magic AI solution, he’s here to share what works, what doesn’t, and why the time to start experimenting is right now. His message to wine business leaders is simple: don’t wait. Every day, the gap between adopters and laggards grows wider.

On today’s episode, Stephen brings hard-earned insights, stories from the AI frontlines, and a clear-eyed view of how wine can embrace innovation without losing its soul. A massive thanks to Stephen for joining me.

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Jacob Ner-David is, in many ways, the quintessential entrepreneur. He’s built and led multiple pioneering companies, including DeltaThree, one of the first to offer internet-based telephony, dramatically reducing the cost of international calls, and NomadIQ, which specialised in location-based internet services.

But alongside his startup successes runs a deep and enduring passion for wine. Jacob is the co-founder and chairman of Jezreel Valley Winery in Israel, and managing director of VinoVentures, a wine trading fund. Moshe Weizman, whom listeners will remember from Episode 28 of Season 4 and his groundbreaking company Wining, told me that Jacob’s story is not only fascinating, but essential to hear.

I’ve always found it compelling when accomplished business leaders bring their entrepreneurial vision into the wine world, driven by a desire to see the industry grow, evolve, and innovate. With that in mind, it’s an honour and a privilege to welcome Jacob to the Cellar Door Podcast and share his story with you.

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Everyone in marketing knows Mark Ritson. He’s built a reputation for being direct, sharp, and unapologetically honest in how he approaches both the practice and teaching of marketing. With a career that includes advising major global brands like LVMH, Mark now focuses his energy on the Mini MBA, an online course designed to give students what he sees as the core foundations of marketing and brand building.

I was first introduced to Mark’s work by my friend and mentor Joe Fattorini, who pointed me toward some of Mark’s more pointed critiques of modern marketing thinking. Mark considers that marketing has drifted away from its foundations, losing sight of core principles in favour of flashy tactics and surface-level creativity.

Mark challenges the idea that marketing is just about flair or instinct. For him, it’s a serious discipline—one that requires structure, evidence, and proper training.

As it happens, Mark also has a real love of wine. So I was especially pleased when he agreed to join me for a conversation—not only about how marketing is (or isn’t) working in the wine world, but how it’s faring more broadly across industries.

It was a genuinely insightful chat, and I’m very grateful to Mark for taking the time to join me.

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