Nov 19, 2016
In a past life, Mike
Bennie used to help famous figures like Russell Crowe, A Tribe
Called Quest, Baby John Burgess, as well as (future Prime Minister)
Malcolm Turnbull and then Lord Mayor Lucy Turnbull pick wines. The
Rootstock Sydney co-founder and award-winning wine communicator
takes us on a few flashbacks to that memorable time (the Russell
Crowe anecdote is particularly great) and - inspired by this very
amusing Herald article that bagged Turnbull’s public wine
collection ('Malcolm Turnbull's wine list is embarrassing and
boring: industry experts') - Bennie also covers the hilariously
bad state of politician’s taxpayer-funded booze cellars.
In this podcast, we also cover Mike’s record-setting drinking
session at Noma Japan (aided by Rootstock co-conspirator James
Hird, with slight assistance by The Bridge Room’s Ross Lusted) and
what it was like to then help Mads Kleppe put together the drinks
program for Noma Australia - the biggest restaurant opening in
Sydney this year. They enlisted artisanal makers, like Two Metre
Tall’s Ashley Huntington (who is literally two metres tall) and
Mike even had his own Brian wine make the final cut, in a totally
legit way. He also chats about the blowback and the immense
pressure he faced putting together the drinks list, against intense
expectations about “name-checks” and supposedly obligatory
inclusions.
We also chat about the upcoming Rootstock
Sydney festival (on November 26-27 at Carriageworks), which
doubles down on Australian cuisine even more than last year’s
impressive effort. Expect "roo and ray rolls”, pizzas topped with
native ingredients and sausages that were OG creations by
immigrants during the gold rush. And after some legal battles,
Rootstock has managed to successfully bring out a collection of
Georgian winemakers, here to celebrate their 8000-year-old approach
to making booze, as well as stage a “big wild party” on the
Saturday night with Georgian dishes such as roasted potato with
tkemali and cheese khachapuri. Also at Rootstock, there’ll be the
return of the orange wine bar, the sake bar, the introduction of
Spritzstock (which sees Spirit People teaming up with PS40) and
beers made with wild fermented grains by Two Metre Tall. And don’t
forget, there’ll be talks and a chance to meet producers - from
Owen Latta, who started making wines during schoolbreaks as an
underaged 15-year-old to the one-of-a-kind French champagne grower
Lelarge Pugeot.
Mike also updates us on the places he loves to frequent in Sydney -
as well as the establishments he’s looking forward to checking out
next.
PS Tool frontman Maynard Keenan’s wine definitely make a cameo
during this podcast.