Pinot Gris | Gewurtz | Chardonnay | Rosé | Pinot Noir | Pinot Meunier | Carignan | Grenache | Shiraz | Cab Shiraz

Rolling along, in the hills and right in the heart of the city.

Getting off the beaten track doesn’t require a trip to the country.  Our urban doorstep offers its own fair share of diamonds in the rough.  North Melbourne is one such gem, quietly lounging in Melbourne CBD’s shadow, totally unpretentious and overlooked.  Down one of the backstreets you’ll find a little ‘R’ above a door; welcoming you to Matt East’s quirky and convenient city cellar door.

Matt’s story has run on two wheels for longer than he can remember, so the cycling infused story carries meaning.  Rouleur, meaning the ‘roller’ of the cycling team, might not be the best of the bunch but they bury themselves for the team, a role Matt resonates with over the years.

Matt grew up in the Yarra Valley, so working in wine was arguably inevitable.  His dad was a pilot and serendipitously bumped into a young James Halliday at the Coldstream post office one day.  In just one encounter, James persuaded his dad to plant some vines, and so it began.  When Matt and his brother were old enough his dad took them flying, but when Matt vomited everywhere on landing his dad sent him packing for the vines, and left his brother in the cockpit.  All these years later Matt is the winemaker and his brother the pilot.

Matt spent his summers doing all the buss jobs at Yarra Valley wineries during vintage, and by 14 he was making his own wines out of the shed at home.  Awful things he remembers, but the start of something bigger.  He moved to McLaren Vale to work for Wirra Wirra, and commuted from Adelaide to the Vale by bike everyday.  For those who know the landscape, that is no small feat.  He was on the hunt for old vine Grenache for his own project, and cycling past a beautiful old vineyard one day he stopped and hopped over the fence to have a closer look.  The owner, when he found him, rightfully told him to bug off, but not before he saw his bike and commented that he had a similar model.  They got chatting and soon became firm friends.  Eventually Matt asked if he could buy some of the guy’s fruit, and he was all for it.  Matt said it's a strategy he’s rolled out with other vineyards too!

I’m a sucker for Hemingway - who isn’t? - and there’s a Hemingway quote on Matt’s wine boxes; ‘it is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best’ and whilst Matt jokes there’s a lot of bike & wine quotes out there (who knew?) he reflects that he’s spent a lifetime on a bike.  It was a good way to get out and clear his head and over the years those rides have given him a lot so it was a natural muse.  He has recently introduced a new and funky looking range of wines called Domestique: another cycling term, referring to the team member at the back carrying everybody’s water.  The support to the main act, just as these wines are the deliciously refreshing wines that complement his serious single site expressions from the Yarra Valley, McLaren Vale and more recently the cool and high climes of Whitlands High Plateau in Northern Victoria.

Time from Melbourne | 5 minutes

Wine RRP | $28 - $50

A tasting with Matt is $45 per person. Book here.