“I think Melbourne is such a great place to live if you love wine,” says Ryan. “I’m so energised by the restaurants and wine culture in Melbourne, but then you get one hour away, and you can be in a region that makes world class wine. I think that’s special. I’m drawn to the Yarra with its rich history, the diversity of what’s grown and a kind of transition phase with changing climate and phylloxera. It’s fascinating to imagine what Yarra Valley wine will look like in 20 years.”
You may have come across Ryan on the floor of Cumulus Inc. or Cutler & Co. in his day job as a sommelier over about seven years leading up to the end of 2022, before he was made a senior wine buyer with the group. He’s a certified sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers and has a WSET Diploma. He also happened to take out the Sommelier’s Australia title of Australia’s Best Sommelier for 2021. Plus, he has a bachelor of economics, but his winemaking experience was purely garnered on the job.
“There are lots of transferable skills between sommeliers and winemakers: hard work, physical labour, sales, logistics, problem solving and mainly cleaning.”
“I have no formal qualifications in winemaking which can be both liberating and nerve racking,” says Ryan. “I was certainly naïve, and still am, when I started this project with little understanding of chemistry and textbook winemaking, but I really enjoy the tactile nature of it. …One of my biggest winemaking influences has been Levi Dalton’s ‘I’ll drink to That!’ podcast. I listen to episodes on the commute to the winery and arrive ready to make syrah like Gonon and chardonnay like Benjamin Leroux! …I focus on tasting to guide decision making.”
Ryan’s practical experience was slotted into free time around his sommelier roles, starting with a vintage stint at Moorooduc Estate in 2016. The next few vintages were spent lending a hand at Mount Mary. “There are lots of transferable skills between sommeliers and winemakers: hard work, physical labour, sales, logistics, problem solving and mainly cleaning. I enjoy the respite from serving people when working in the winery or vineyards.”
The shuttering of Melbourne’s restaurants in 2020 was the catalyst for Ryan to found his label, with a lot more spare time and energy. “In 2020, I undertook the Young Winemaker Program at No. 7 Healesville with 2 tonnes of syrah from the Thousand Candles vineyard. COVID afforded me more time to be at the winery and in the vineyard. In 2021, I moved to the winery in Packenham alongside Rob Hall, who has been incredibly supportive.”
“I get frustrated by expensive wine, aspirational wine, wines with too much narrative. I find virtue in value, and I created this label to learn more about wine.”
The first vintage for Honky Chateau was that 2020 Syrah, but the range has expanded somewhat in the 2022 vintage with a chardonnay and cabernet shiraz blend joining the ranks, along with a chilled red and a piquette. Ryan makes the wines solo, taking charge of the whole process from receiving grapes to delivering boxes. It’s a simple operation, and that’s just the way he likes it, a world away from the bright lights of his ‘day’ job.
“My vision is to make wine that gives pleasure to normal people,” Ryan says. “To make humble wines that capture the imagination of people who aren’t that into wine and pleasantly surprise those that drink regularly. Wines to elevate non-occasions. I get frustrated by expensive wine, aspirational wine, wines with too much narrative. I find virtue in value, and I created this label to learn more about wine.”
As a micro-negociant, community is at the core of everything he does, Ryan adds. “My friends draw the labels, my partner does the design, I purchase grapes from people I like, I use a mate’s winery, I get friends to help, I sell them to friends and meet lots of great people in the process. It takes a village to make a wine.”
“We need to talk about Yarra cabernet… great old vines, modest alcohols and potential for ageing. Wake up and smell the cabernet!”
Ryan also works largely with less-fashionable Yarra varieties, championing cabernet and syrah. Naturally, there are many iconic wines made from those varieties, but the reality is outside of the leading names, they can be very hard to sell, especially cabernet.
“I’m drawn to working with varieties hiding in plain sight,” says Ryan. “Cabernet and shiraz are increasingly being ripped out in the Yarra, which is crazy, as they have so much potential and are arguably much better suited than pinot noir in many sites. I really enjoy working with these kinds of varieties that find a natural balance. …It’s just about educating what shiraz can taste like. And we need to talk about Yarra cabernet… great old vines, modest alcohols and potential for ageing. Wake up and smell the cabernet!
Ryan’s affection for cabernet is partly founded on his experience with older Australian wines, such as Mount Mary’s ‘Quintet’ that often clocked in at around 12% alcohol. “Cabernet with restraint that can be refreshing,” he says. “Even classic South Australian cabernet from the 80s or early 90s have an understated quality and an almost infinite capacity to age. I’ve been inspired by syrah from Luke Lambert, Timo Mayer and Yarra Yering – they were pivotal in giving a glimpse of the possibility of what Yarra shiraz can be.”
“My five-year plan is to purchase a winning scratchie, plant a vineyard with cellar door and slowly retire.”
The general availability of both grapes also works to Ryan’s advantage, with the ability to source fruit for the core of his range, while also taking advantage of other opportunities when they present themselves. “I see it like when you go to the markets with a shopping list, and you can’t get whatever ingredients you were looking for. The pleasure of each new vintage is finding out what’s good, what’s available and what’s possible. I’m not trying to hit volume targets or percentages, just trying to enjoy the process and work with the best fruit I can get my hands on. If I was focusing on pinot noir and chardonnay, I would’ve pulled all my hair out by now.”
In terms of winemaking, Ryan says there is nothing distinctive about his processes. “Everything is fermented with wild yeast, almost everything sees fermentation or ageing in old oak. Never new oak. I’m fortunate to work in a winery that has a cool barrel room, and most movements are done by gravity. But pumps are a part of winemaking, so I’m not pump averse. I filter if I believe the wine will be better. I haven’t needed to fine a wine yet, so I haven’t. Reds I rarely punch down, and when I do it’s with the goal of keeping the cap wet rather than extraction. I don’t cold soak, because I can’t. I press the wine when it tastes like it needs pressing. I typically only add sulphur at bottling, with exceptions of some whites, aiming for around 20–30ppm free at bottling.”
It’s a process that is unaffected by dogma, rather one that is led by the season and Ryan’s evolving winemaking journey. “My five-year plan is to purchase a winning scratchie, plant a vineyard with cellar door and slowly retire,” he jokes. “Alternatively, I’ll grow slowly and try to establish further relationships with good growers. Perhaps look to take on a lease as the next step. I’d like to zoom in a little more on syrah or cabernet but will see if the market catches up. I’ll probably play with some pinot noir.”
Please sign in or create account as candidate to bookmark this job
Please sign in or create account to save this search
Please sign in or create account as candidate to create a resume
