Welcome to episode 242 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T and Yeastie Boys

Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can now get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it there and have it saved in your Spotify library.

Here I had a conversation with Jules Van Costello. He’s maybe best described as a ‘drinks professional’. He’s an author, blogger, distributor and winemaker. He’s had shares in restaurants, written books and columns and worked his way up through the hospitality industry.

Most recently he’s published the book, Beyond The Vines. He’s also written about craft beer, including two editions of a book called Brewed.

Jules is someone I know online, and we’ve been aware of each other’s work for a while but this was our first proper meeting. We had a nice chat, talking through our shared history around Hawke’s Bay (though we were there at different times) and charting the rise of the wine industry in that region. From there it’s to talking wine and hospitality and alcohol around the country and the pull of the industry for Jules.

I enjoyed this conversation, it was nice to meet. And I’ve enjoyed Jules’ books. He’s a good writer – and he tells an interesting story in Beyond The Vines, managing to add in elements of his own connection to wine and his development within the industry as he charts the growth of wine in New Zealand and shines a light on the best practitioners.

The book would be a great Christmas present – so go here to check it out. Also, here’s a recent article he wrote for The Spinoff.

And here now is episode 242 of Sweetman Podcast – my conversation with Jules Van Costello

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