We spent over $1,000,000 on wine!

We spent over $1,000,000 on wine!

Author: SESSION in PROGRESS February 18, 2026 Duration: 24:03

Master Sommelier Carlos Santos goes behind the scenes of building a $1.5 million restaurant wine list for a new Byron Bay venue created by chef Shannon Bennett.From $35,000 magnums to $40 best-selling wines, we break down how sommeliers curate world-class wine lists, negotiate rare allocations, and balance prestige bottles with everyday drinkers.


You’ll learn:

• How a Master Sommelier builds a wine list from scratch

• Why some wines sell more than others

• The hardest wines to source in Australia

• How trade tastings and supplier relationships work

• Why Australian wine is dominating restaurant lists

• How price psychology shapes customer ordersIf you love wine, restaurants, or the behind-the-scenes world of hospitality, this episode is for you.


Recorded at our new Collins Street studio by SESSION in PROGRESS.


SPONSORS

Grays.comhttps://www.grays.com/search/wine

RIEDEL: https://www.riedel.com/en-au/shop#sort=bestSeller

(Australians use code: GOTSOMME New Zealand: GOTSOMMENZ at check out for 20% off)


FOLLOW GOT SOMME

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gotsomme/

Studio: https://www.instagram.com/session.in.progress/


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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 $1.5 million wine list reveal

01:30 Building a wine list from scratch

05:10 Choosing wines for Byron Bay diners

08:20 Hardest wines to source

12:00 Back vintages and vertical tastings

16:40 Why $40 wines outsell $1,000 wines

19:30 The $35,000 bottle

22:00 Trade tastings & negotiation secrets

25:00 Supporting Australian wineries


Welcome to Got Somme, the ultimate wine podcast where Master Sommeliers and wine experts share their tips, blind tasting challenges, and insider knowledge from vineyards around the world. Whether you’re a wine beginner or a seasoned enthusiast, we explore everything from wine education and wine tasting techniques to sparkling wines, red vs white, and the best wines under $30.


Subscribe for weekly episodes and join us as we taste, learn, and uncover the stories behind your favourite wines. Perfect for anyone looking to improve their wine knowledge, discover new wine regions, or just enjoy a fun, educational chat about wine.


Ever felt a bit lost staring at a wine list or wondering what you're actually tasting in your glass? Got Somme is here to help, without any of the pretence. This isn't a stuffy lecture; it's a conversation between Master Sommelier Carlos Santos and his mate, radio announcer Angus O'Loughlin, who's keen to learn but starting from scratch. Each episode, Carlos guides Angus-and by extension, all of us-through the fundamentals, breaking down everything from grape varieties and regional styles to understanding why a wine tastes the way it does. The real magic happens when they're joined by some of the world's most respected winemakers, who share the stories and craft behind their bottles. You'll hear Carlos explain how to pick a good wine from a bad one, demystifying terms like tannin and terroir along the way. It's an accessible, often funny journey into wine, perfect for anyone who enjoys a glass but wants to understand the world behind it. Produced by SESSION in PROGRESS, this podcast turns curiosity into genuine knowledge, one bottle at a time.
Author: Language: en-au Episodes: 100

Got Somme : Master Sommelier's Wine Podcast
Podcast Episodes
Winemaker of the YEAR reveals secrets behind FAMOUS bottle [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:19
Imagine leaving the sale of one of Australia's most beloved wineries to the flip of a coin?! That's the humble beginnings of Yarra Yering in Victoria where Dr. Bailey Carrodus let fate decide who was to take ownership of…
$5 vs $300 - Master Sommelier Shiraz BLIND tasting 😎🍷 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:02
Can 9 Australian Shiraz producers beat 1 French Syrah in a wine blind tasting? WATCH TILL THE END TO WIN A BOTTLE OF WINE VALUED AT $320* Tasting wines valued between $5 and $320 we tasked Master Sommelier Carlos Santos…
DESTROYING $500,000 worth of Wine! 🔥🍷 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:09
In 2018 fire destroyed the restaurant and cellar door, containing $500,000 worth of wine, of famed Australian winery '10 Minutes by Tractor'. Today owner Martin Spedding sits down with Master Sommelier and Got Somme Host…
Master Sommelier’s WORST nightmare… CORKED bottle of wine 🤢 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:48
$120 down the drain! "Corked" wine does not mean a wine with small pieces of cork floating around in the glass. It is a word for a wine that has become contaminated with cork taint. In the worst instances, the wine taste…
ULTIMATE Riesling line up! "We make maybe 200 or 300 bottles" [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:31
When Robert Weil winery sent Nicolas Langer all the way from Rheingau, Germany to Melbourne, Australia we knew we had to snatch him from the airport to taste what Master Sommelier Carlos Santos proclaims "One of my favou…
Sommelier CHALLENGES us to their BLIND wine tasting! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:34
One of us gets ALL 5 RIGHT! 🍷✅ When Grays.com sommelier Anna Boydell challenged us to a blind tasting using wines from their range we had to pull up our socks, dust off our copies of 'The World Atlas Of Wine' and represe…
They ALLOWED us to take over this WHOLE WINERY! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:25
Does Cold Climate make the best conditions for Pinot Noir? After talking cold climate wines and frequently mentioning places like the Yarra Valley and Burgundy, Tasmania's Devils Corner invited us to come and compare the…
REVEALED the  next BIG wine out of Tasmania 🍷 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:33
Not even a last minute flight cancelation could stop our resident Master Sommelier Carlos Santos from getting to Devils Corner's winery in Tasmania to see the story behind the bottle. We sat down, over multiple bottles o…
"Arguably the BEST Cabernet Franc in the WORLD" 🌍 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:24
Why don't we see Cab Franc on more "By The Glass" Wine Lists? Is there a reason for it? Master Sommelier Carlos Santos is here to debunk the mystery as we take a deep dive into this wonderful mix of red and black fruit w…