The Athlete - Liam O'Brien
THE ORIGINAL ATHLETES
The original Athletes of Wine were two: Matt Brooke and Liam O'Brien. They met in 2004, working at Circa, the Prince and in 2005 they were both accepted into the prestigious sommelier training program, learning about - but most importantly, drinking the best wines in the world. They talked about trying their hand at winemaking, maybe in the Macedon Ranges where Liam grew up and a natural place to make great Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Athletes Of Wine started officially in the winter of 2007 when they were offered the chance to take over a hobby vineyard – 526 Pinot Noir vines – in the southern part of the Macedon Ranges. A second vineyard, with 2000 Chardonnay vines followed in 2012. After a stellar 15 year career, Matt decided to hang up the secateurs in 2022.
Fast forward to today...
LIAM O'BRIEN - THE ATHLETE OF WINE.
With Matt's retirement, Liam continues as the captain/coach (owner, operator, grower, packer, cleaner, social media-er, label designer, delivery driver, and more) of Athletes of Wine.
In addition to the home base of the Macedon Ranges, we have now make a diverse set of styles from the Alpine Valleys, King Valley and Glenrowan
Why stay plural? Because it takes a village to raise a wine. Many people contribute to our success, not least of which are the fabulous growers, and you - fans and supporters of Athletes of Wine.
You can read more about Liam's background HERE.
THE NAME
Athletes of Wine was inspired by a quote in the diary of Samuel Pepys, a naval administrator from the 1600s. Samuel was a bon viveur - a man who ate and drank like his life depended on it. When the Great Fire hit London in 1666, he buried his valuables in the front yard, including an entire wheel of Parmesan cheese!
In one passage of the diary, he describes being in a pub, looking down his nose at some folk who are drinking widely and what he sees as indiscriminately – they move from ale, to Sherry, Port, Claret etc. – he calls them “athletes of liquor”.
What he saw as a negative we saw as a badge of honour - being like an athlete, training your body, mastering every aspect of the discipline to be a complete and balanced player. We wanted to train every day to become the best we could be, to become athletes of wine.
THE PHILOSOPHY
Initially we just wanted to get our hands dirty and learn about viticulture and winemaking, but once we had a crop, we realised we had a pretty strong vision for our wines. As per the original Athletes approach, our passion is for making wine using low yields, mature vines, minimal chemical use, wild yeast, aging on lees for all wines wherever possible, unfined, no or very light filtration and allowing wines time to rest before release.
We love classically-styled wines that show subtlety, elegance and structure, with diverse aromas and flavours, as well as an ability to age. If you have the chance to try a glass, or pickup a bottle or case, we hope you enjoy it and can see the lifetime of dedication, study and training we put into every wine we make.
