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The Pooley Podcast
pooley_conversation_part1.mp3	In this part of our conversation we tackle the merits of cork verses caps, ask Matt if he supports putting wine in alternative packaging such as tetra packs or cans, get Matt's opinion on the '08 vintage, listen to him detail the differences between the vineyards at Richmond and Campania, marvel at the history behind the Pooley label, discuss whether wine awards are important and hear about Matt's approach to wine judging.
pooley_conversation_part2.mp3	In this part we find out why Matt owes us a dozen bottles, we discuss the 'competition', we find out why Matt is optimistic about the future of the Tassie wine industry, we float the idea of a Pulp Mill for the Coal River Valley, we get Matt to admit that there is a Pooley 'stash' and we hear about what he is doing about climate change and peak oil
pooley_conversation_part3.mp3	In this part we find out more about Matt by asking him a few personal questions. We hear about his favourite wine and what other vineyards impress him, we find out what song should play as Matt enters a room and finish off by letting Matt plug the business and asking him if we have missed anything.

Matt Pooley - friendly and trusting, just what we needed.

Matt Pooley. Matt's first experience with the winepunters was when a tired and emotional PJ approached him at the Southern Tasmanian Vineyards Red Wine Weekend with the crazy idea of starting a website geared toward Tasmanian wine.  Our swaying winepunter delivered his best sales pitch and to his utter astonishment Matt was very supportive of the idea and agreed to be our first interviewee. 

Hmmm so we had an interviewee who is a major player in the Coal River Valley wine region but no idea how to interview, no audio producer and no equipment.  How hard can it be?  Yep, harder than we thought but after some frantic activity we cobbled together some audio equipment, called on the services of our producer 'Please Don't Name Me' and headed off to the Belmont Vineyard just outside Richmond.

We arrived to be greeted by the family dog and a slightly bemused Mrs Pooley (Matt's mum) who appeared not to know we were coming.  Still, she was very welcoming and made us coffee while we set up in their cellar door.  Matt arrived and it was down to business.

Due to the cobbled together nature of our equipment the podcast sound quality isn't as good as we would like but we were very happy with the content.  Matt is the production manager for Pooley Wines and is the Winemaker for the Pooley Family Reserve range.  It quickly became obvious to us that he is very committed to his craft and the wine industry in general.  This wasn't much of a surprise since Matt is the third generation of Pooley family to be involved in the wine industry. In fact the family includes the oldest female vigneron in Australia. 

Matt's grandmother, Margaret, is 93 years old and still going strong.  I spoke to her recently and I was impressed, she is a very welcoming and humorous woman.  I would recommend going to the Cooinda Vale vineyard and trying the wines anyway but if you do go ask her to tell you the joke about the cannon balls.

The conversation didn't go off without a hitch however, Matt had the misfortune to leave his mobile on and, as you would expect, it went off during our conversation.  As a result he now owes us a case of the family reserve (ahem ... er... Matt it still hasn't arrived! - Ed).  A more professional outfit would probably have edited this sort of episode out of their podcasts but we make no claim to such lofty heights and in any case we enjoyed it too much, so in it stays.

The Cellar Door.

While a fair bit of the conversation had a light hearted tone, it was also wide ranging and interesting.  We covered topics as diverse as wine packaging, wine show judging and vineyard quality management.  In addition, he had some very interesting things to say about managing vineyards in both thin and deeper soils.  We were particularly impressed with the steps he is taking to deal with issues such as climate change and peak oil.  

Rather than simply wring his hands and demand to know what the government is doing about these issues Pooleys is reducing their reliance on chemicals and is using techniques such as growing crops in the vineyard to provide nutrients to the vines.  In fact our favourite bit of the conversation was when Matt was talking about using natural predators to control pests and, right on cue, in walked a couple of chickens.  

Potential Pooley Family Reserve?.

We also discovered how good it would be to have Matt as a brother.  Despite the spotlight being on him, he took the opportunity to plug his sister's (Anna) winemaking skills by talking up the revamped Heemskerk label.  Not sure what his Mum and Dad will say if Heemskerk start selling more wine on the back of Matt's endorsement!  However he convinced us so we will be trying to get an opportunity to do a podcast with her in the near future.

The detail people amongst you will of course pick up on our loose grasp of Tasmanian history and we should point out that the Pooley wine cellar wasn't built prior to European settlement  (Gavin said the cellar was built in 1750 but probably(?) meant 1850 - Ed).  Matt also mentioned the problems they are having with their water supply and since the conversation (in August 2008) was recorded it has been reported in the local media that there are moves afoot to get recycled water into the Coal River Valley wine region and hopefully this will help alleviate the situation.  

Since we spoke to Matt PJ went to the Pooley Cooinda Vale vineyard in Campania and purchased a couple of bottles of the award winning Pooley Riesling and his impression of the late picked Riesling and it's ability to match with food is here.

Lastly we want to thank Matt for giving us his time and for his ongoing assistance.  

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