Meet the rebels shaking up the West Australian wine scene, one unusual pairing at a time

An aesthetic array of moreish cheeses adorning wafer-thin crackers alongside a fine-stemmed glass of buttery chardonnay. Seared Scotch fillet bathed in pepper sauce with a generous pour of robust shiraz. An effervescent flute of fizz sipped between bites of fried chicken decadently garnished with beluga caviar. A minimal intervention South West number paired with . . . Pizza Shapes? Some of these things may not be like the others, but a new vintage of mavericks is on a mission to shake up the West Australian wine scene, one baked biscuit at a time. As a new era of food and wine events flourishes across the State, traditional wine culture — often intimidating to drinkers who don’t know their licorice from their plum notes — is becoming more playful and approachable. Each event is bringing its own flavour to the party, with Cabin Fever in the South West the cheekiest pick of the bunch. Launching in 2017, the winter festival is known for its out-of-the-box offerings, including Wine’s A Drag (a cabaret-inspired wine tasting hosted by Queen Donna Kebab), a cheese toastie battle (self-explanatory) and No Ego Dego at Skigh Wines with the aforementioned Shapes. The State Buildings’ State Makers is the more mature member of the gang, but knows how to show its guests a good time. The 2024 line-up included a Fleetwood Mac-inspired pairing between vocalist Ali Bodycoat and sommelier Emma Farrelly. Out-of-towners Mould and Pinot Palooza are welcome guests to WA, this year joining forces at Claremont Showground to bring cheese and red to the masses. In spite of their differences, each event — and the passionate professionals behind them — works to demystify a culture that has long felt out of reach to drinkers who enjoy a glass of vino, but aren’t quite sure why. “There is a younger generation of somms (sommeliers) that are perhaps a little more rebellious, a bit more pirate-ish,” says sommelier Cyndal Petty. “We’re not feeling like we have to fit into specific guidelines or the ways of traditional somms, we can adapt and have a bit more fun with a different approach.” Petty, the daughter of chef parents who met in the kitchen, is well acquainted with the workings of the food and wine industry. She followed in their footsteps from the age of 15, promising her dad that she’d finish her apprenticeship and would only work in hatted restaurants. Petty kept her promise, kind of. She’s now the sommelier for the Parker Group (working out of the Busselton Pavilion’s South West Wine Shop), following seven years of travelling the world working in restaurants. “During my apprenticeship I would watch front of house, and the somms, through the kitchen window; they had their own language and way they dealt with guests . . . (there was) a level of respect that you couldn’t put words on,” Petty says. “Even now, there is a different respect for somms, they essentially have this knowledge that isn’t within anyone else’s brain. They’re a walking textbook with an air of humble hospitality, which I always thought was beautiful. “I waited until I was 18, finished my apprenticeship, and made a very quick switch onto the floor. I never looked back, really.” Creating fun and exciting experiences through wine and food is something Petty is advocating for more of, after feeling personally out of place in sommelier circles. “I remember sitting in rooms, and sometimes I still sit in rooms, with somms and wine people and I’ll put my hand up and say, ‘mate, I have no idea what you’re talking about, can you please use different language for me?’ Most of them don’t know they’re doing it, it’s not intentional,” Petty explains. “If that happens to me, you can only imagine what happens to a consumer who just wants to enjoy a good glass of wine.” She sees her role as a ChatGPT for wine, to input a question and spit out information in a way that people can understand. A laid-back Wednesday Wine Club in Busselton is one example of this, as is her upcoming Cabin Fever event, Munchies & Magnums, alongside chef Brendan Pratt. “I wanted to build on the theatrics of it (opening a magnum) and create a feeling of childlike giddiness and excitement,” Petty says. “I was thinking about wines (to pair with the meal) and how we could build on it without becoming too experimental or wild and I just thought: magnums. There is nothing more fun than cracking a big bottle and putting it on the table, or watching people pour from it — it’s so awkward. “Something that is also very special to me is supporting other women in wine, so South By South West (founded by Mijan Patterson and Livia Maiorana) felt like a natural friendship for this event, they make beautiful wines as well.” Her partner in crime for the event, Pratt (alongside chef Josh De Caen), is no stranger to dreaming up the menu for a wine pairing. The South West-based chef has an impressive resume listing Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK and Vasse Felix in Margaret River, co-founding bougie coffee drive-through Coffee Heads, and is now in a new role with Parker Group as creative culinary director. The opportunity to be creative is part of the reason Pratt adores his chosen career; each venue and its diverse offering presents a blank canvas for him to splash his culinary creations across. Over the years, Pratt has fronted meticulous degustation dinners and prepared pairings he describes as a little more cheeky. The upcoming Munchies & Magnums session leans into the latter. “We wanted it to feel like it was for people a bit hungover from the weekend — from booze or a lack of sleep — and for it to be a fun space for either guests who have come down from Perth or locals who have been part of the events,” Pratt says. Fried chicken with caviar and truffle mac and cheese will be making an appearance. Emma Farrelly, the award-winning wine director at State Buildings, has similarly worked across all ends of the pairing spectrum: big price tags and often bigger egos at one end and nostalgic treats with more affordable drops on the other. It was during the pandemic that her approachable wine series took off, finding that the videos she reluctantly took of herself at home were resonating during a time when people craved fun and distraction. “Trying to make wine more approachable and easy to understand is one of the things I’ve tried to do in my role in the State Buildings . . . combining it with music or fun snacks or art (for State Makers) makes it a bit more approachable. Not everyone wants to be full wine nerd,” she says. Farrelly has found the more approachable, lower cost events — she’s paired Cheezels and M&Ms with drops in the past — are attracting a younger demographic of drinkers who might not yet know what they like. Within the more relaxed and informal setting she’s noticed guests are more likely to ask questions and are less embarrassed to “taste the wrong thing” — something Farrelly reiterates is ridiculous, because taste is subjective. And it’s not just these events that are challenging the status quo; Pratt adds a new generation of young winemakers, and the style of wines they’re creating, is similarly breathing new life into the industry. “They’re (winemakers) sending these really high-quality and well-made wines into the market that are really approachable,” Pratt says. “They’re also doing the same thing in challenging the old-school way that wine is made. Because winemakers are doing something new . . . they (drinkers) don’t have a preconceived idea of what it should be . . . They don’t feel so intimidated, because it is new and they’re learning as everyone else does.” One of these winemakers is Skigh McManus, owner of Skigh Wines. Growing up in Denmark, he rode the transition from agriculture to tourist town, working weekends and school holidays at Howard Park before diving into winemaking full time, a career that has since taken him around the world. Opening his own venture in 2016, his process involves less intervention in pH adjustments, picking fruit earlier and slightly lower alcohol, producing wines that are well balanced — the kind you’d be happy to sip any night of the week. “What we’re trying to offer at the tasting experience at our cellar door is something that people would be happy to replicate back at the house with friends,” McManus says. “We want people to come in, have such a great time that they want to buy something, take the wine home with friends and try to re-create the experience.” It’s this attitude that he’ll be bringing to No Ego Dego, the “unpretentious degustation” event hosted in his Yallingup tasting room that will pair his Coda range of wines with the kind of grocery shop items you’d grab from the shelf after a long day. “We’re serious about wine, but with a typically West Australian, very casual, kind of approach.” What are your favourite unusual pairings? Chef Brendan Pratt Sommelier Emma Farrelly Winemaker Skigh McManus Sommelier Cyndal Petty