Dirty Linen - A Food Podcast with Dani Valent · A Deep in the Weeds Production

Julie Holm (Ringer Reef Winery) - embedded in the community

·24 min·1 clip

Annie and Bruce bought the farm in 1996, then the business shifted from grape growing to making and selling wine.

1. Dirty Linen visits Ringer Reef Winery in Bright’s high country, where Julie Holm talks about a family-run vineyard, cellar door, and hospitality venue near Pawpunka. 2. Julie Holm is the guest and co-manager with Mark, while Dani Valent hosts Dirty Linen and frames the episode as part of a Victorian high-country series. 3. The episode asks how Ringer Reef makes wine, welcomes visitors, and stays embedded in a local food-and-drink community. 4. Julie describes a relaxed day at Ringer Reef as people spreading out on the lawn, drinking wine, and eating platters made by their daughter. 5. She says the cellar door offers guided tastings, and she recommends trying six or seven wines so visitors can find something that suits their palate. 6. Julie contrasts the traditional indoor tasting-room model with the outdoor spaces, where people can sit at a table, use a picnic rug, or bring kids who can run around. 7. She says the winery often has live music outdoors, which adds to the informal atmosphere. 8. Julie lists nearby producers in the region, including Bright Brewery, Nightingales, Sixpence Coffee, Reden Co Gin Distillery, Pepo Sark Palms, Peaks Cheese, and Gamze Smokehouse. 9. She notes that Pepo Sark Palms are the only pumpkin seed grill in Australia and says the cheese from Peaks Cheese in Myrtleford is amazing. 10. Julie explains that the high country changes with the seasons, with winter fires, autumn colours, summer swimming, and spring growth. 11. She says Ringer Reef began with Mark’s parents Annie and Bruce buying the farm in 1996 as a semi-retirement project. 12. Julie says the land had once been a dairy farm and had overgrown with blackberries, so Annie and Bruce spent two years clearing it. 13. She says they planted Merlot in 1998 and originally expected to sell grapes to larger wineries while making a little wine for themselves. 14. Julie explains that an early-2000s oversupply of grapes in Australia forced the business to make more wine than planned and shift from grape growing to wine making and sales. 15. She says they opened the winery and cellar door while still working full-time, then gradually diversified because visitors did not want only Merlot. 16. Julie and Mark moved from corporate wine work in Mildura to Ringer Reef in 2016, bringing winemaking skills and a more hands-on approach. 17. She says the move let them make decisions based on customers rather than sales and marketing, and that they can change things from the vineyard through to the finished wine. 18. Julie describes the business as resilient through weather, fires, and three major interruptions in five years, and says Annie and Bruce have helped them through those changes. 19. Listeners who like small family wineries, regional food, and high-country travel will probably enjoy this episode. 20. Listeners wanting technical wine analysis or fast-paced debate may skip this one.

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