The Wined Up
Drink More , Try More, Learn More - Two mates tasting, learning, and sharing their experiences with wine from an unapologetically unprofessional perspective.
The Wined Up
He Turned His Garage into a Winery (And Learned Fast) With James Follent
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In this episode of The Wined Up Podcast, we sit down with amateur winemaker James Follent to unpack what really happens when curiosity turns into a full-blown garage winery obsession.
What started with buying wine for Qantas points somehow turned into hand-picking grapes, experimenting with sparkling Chardonnay, making raspberry mead, joining the Sydney Amateur Winemakers Club, and producing nearly 300 bottles of wine at home.
Along the way, James shares the chaos, mistakes, and happy accidents that come with learning winemaking from scratch, including dropping 23 litres of Moscato all over the kitchen floor.
This conversation dives into what home winemaking actually teaches you about wine. From fermentation and faults to sulphites, ageing, oxidation, vineyard challenges, and why cleaning might secretly be the most important skill in winemaking.
If you’ve ever wondered whether making wine would completely change the way you drink it… this episode is for you.
Whether you're into Australian wine, home fermentation, garage winemaking, cellar culture, wine education, or just love hearing passionate people obsess over their hobby, this episode captures the messy, fascinating side of wine that most people never see.
⏱️ Chapters
00:00:00 Introduction - Do You Really Understand Wine?
00:00:37 Meet James Fallon - Amateur Winemaker
00:01:08 Lord James & The Scottish Land Story
00:02:25 Icebreaker Questions
00:02:28 Most Memorable Wine Moment
00:04:24 Who Would You Share a Bottle With?
00:05:21 Food & Wine Pairing + Biggest Lesson
00:06:53 Bottling a Life Moment (2025)
00:08:24 James' Wine Journey Begins
00:11:23 From Drinking to Making Wine
00:12:11 Sydney Amateur Winemakers Club
00:19:25 Sparkling Chardonnay 2025 Tasting
00:22:00 Chateau Falon - Name & Story
00:24:32 How Winemaking Changed His Perspective
00:25:40 Regenerative & Biodynamic Viticulture
00:28:44 Vermentino Mudgee 2025
00:31:25 Winemaking Mistakes & Lessons
00:33:33 Garage Winemaking Setup
00:35:15 Oak, Blending & Experiments
00:38:28 Raspberry Mead Tasting & Story
00:43:10 Regenerative Farming Deep Dive
00:47:38 Merlot Cabernet Blend
00:50:30 Future Plans - Going Commercial?
00:55:57 Final Thoughts & The Joy of Winemaking
00:57:32 Where to Find James & The Club
00:58:25 Closing & Cheers
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Go check out James Follent and his journey with amateur wine making at https://chateaufollent.com.au/ and his insta https://www.instagram.com/j.fol/. Alternatively if you want to be pursue the journey yourself, check out the Sydney Amateur Winemakers Club https://www.sydneyawc.com/
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