Ben has been making, selling and talking wine since 2008.
Ben doesn’t have a traditional background. He hasn’t inherited the family's wine business nor come from a long line of winemakers. What Ben does have though is a particular set of skills (not like Liam Neeson) that he has developed over the past fifteen years working in various aspects of the wine industry.
Ben has explored nearly every aspect of the wine industry. He was previously the Country Manager of Australia and New Zealand for Wine Intelligence, where his research took him across the United Kingdom, United States, Japan and India. He worked in wine teams for hatted fine diners such as Black Bar & Grill, sourced hard to find bottles for wealthy clients in independent retail with Prince Wine Store and knocked down doors in commercial sales for De Bortoli Wines.
In an effort to further understand winemaking, he was the first international harvest intern with Big Table Farm in Oregon, USA and has also undertaken vintage with Bleasdale Wines in Langhorne Creek, South Australia.
In 2024, Meredith Wines was a finalist for Young Guns of Wine Top 50 Winemakers in Australia.
He would trade all this in though, to play just one game for his beloved South Sydney Rabbitohs.
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Wines from Western Victoria
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At Meredith Wines, we are always striving to make interesting wines that are as environmentally friendly as possible. Being environmentally sustainable is not something that you simply are or are not, but rather an intended, focused approach that combines numerous different initiatives that place less strain on mother earth.
Recycled Labels
There are plenty of exciting label materials that use recycled or alternative paper sources. Our wine labels use a particular stock that is made from post consumer waste that has the same functionality as normal labels.
Lightweight Glass Bottles
30% of the carbon footprint of a wine, from grape to the glass, is purely wrapped up in the glass bottle. Glass is notoriously energy demanding, from creation to transport to disposal. By using bottles that are 30% lighter than the standard, we are reducing our footprint throughout the supply chain.
Grape Waste
All our grape marc (all the leftover parts of the grape after we press) is sent to a local farm that provides a (apparently very tasty) treat for their cows.
Business Practices
We run our business as digitally as possible and actively go out of our way to not use printed material.
Solar Energy
Our winery has solar panels on the roof which assists with our energy consumption.
Recycling
Where physically possible, we recycle all materials on site.