He Turned His Garage into a Winery (And Learned Fast) With James Follent

Send us Fan MailIn 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.⏱️ Chapters00:00:00 Introduction - Do You Really Understand Wine?00:00:37 Meet James Fallon - Amateur Winemaker00:01:08 Lord James & The Scottish Land Story00:02:25 Icebreaker Questions00:02:28 Most Memorable Wine Moment00:04:24 Who Would You Share a Bottle With?00:05:21 Food & Wine Pairing + Biggest Lesson00:06:53 Bottling a Life Moment (2025)00:08:24 James' Wine Journey Begins00:11:23 From Drinking to Making Wine00:12:11 Sydney Amateur Winemakers Club00:19:25 Sparkling Chardonnay 2025 Tasting00:22:00 Chateau Falon - Name & Story00:24:32 How Winemaking Changed His Perspective00:25:40 Regenerative & Biodynamic Viticulture00:28:44 Vermentino Mudgee 202500:31:25 Winemaking Mistakes & Lessons00:33:33 Garage Winemaking Setup00:35:15 Oak, Blending & Experiments00:38:28 Raspberry Mead Tasting & Story00:43:10 Regenerative Farming Deep Dive00:47:38 Merlot Cabernet Blend00:50:30 Future Plans - Going Commercial?00:55:57 Final Thoughts & The Joy of Winemaking00:57:32 Where to Find James & The Club00:58:25 Closing & Cheers👉 Subscribe to @thewinedup and tell us below:Have you ever thought about making your own wine? Drop it in the comments 👇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/  🎙️ Clip from The Wined Up Podcast 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on Instagram @the.wined.up 🌐 Visit https://www.thewinedup.com.au📩 [email protected] We Drink. We Learn. We Connect. Drink Responsibly. 🍷Resilience Podcast SeriesWe explore key challenges affecting civil society in Central and Eastern Europe.Listen on:   SpotifyFollow Us on YouTube (@TheWinedUp), Instagram (The.Wined.Up), Tik Tok (@TheWinedUp), Spotify (The Wined Up), Amazon Music ( TheWinedUp), and Apple Podcasts (The Wined Up).  Visit our website https://www.thewinedup.com.au or email us at [email protected].   Drink More, Try More, Learn More.