Six Amazing Female Led Australian Producers

What to drink this long weekend, from Australia's finest female producers. Plus, a bonus surprise Q&A...

Today is International Women’s Day, and fortuitously, it falls on a Friday (and a long weekend no less!). So let’s drink to all of the amazing women in our lives with these six incredible local producers, all owned, co-owned or produced by women. 

Full Circle Spirits

Run by co-founder and head distiller Rose Kentish, Full Circle produces incredible artisan spirits out of the Barossa Valley. Elegant, savoury gins are a signature, but it’s Kentish’s inventive liqueurs that have made Full Circle’s name, with flavours like Honey Malt or Scorched Fig. A complex local rendition of Fernet, made with Adelaide Hills kumquats and Kangaroo Island saffron, is a show stopping addition to any amaro cart.

Coconspirators Brewing Co

Jacqui Sacco and Maggie Smit are the female leaders of this Brunswick Brewery, formed after a chance meeting at Merri Mashers homebrew club. Their charming Victoria Street brewpub is a casual family affair, with dogs encouraged and a playground for the kids. Alongside a rotating list of pop-up food vendors, their signature IPA goes down like cool, hoppy nectar, and at a bracing 5.8%, demands your full concentration.

Unico Zelo

Owned by winemaker Laura Carter and husband Brendan, this Adelaide Hills winery is renowned for its vibrant Italian varietals. The pair also own Applewood Distillery, famed for its platforming of native ingredients like Davidson plum, wattleseed and desert limes. Their Unico Pomelo, a dry white vermouth spiked with bitter Asian citrus, is a most agreeable addition to martinis.

Two Metre Tall

When Two Metre Tall say they’re a small artisanal operation, they really mean it; owner and manager Jane Huntington and her husband, brewer Ashley, have no staff; every drop is harvested, fermented, bottled, labelled and packaged by the couple. The pair, operating from the Derwent Valley, produce unique French-style farmhouse ales and ciders. Their signature Cleansing Ale is one of Australia’s great small batch products.

Slow Lane Brewing

Botany based Slow Lane Brewing specialise in old world European ales and lagers. Rare Australian expressions of hefeweizen, dunkelweizen and Belgian tripels are the brewery’s speciality, informed by owner Yvonne Jarman’s continental travels.

Spring Bay Distillery

Coming from Tasmania’s pristine east coast, Spring Bay uses premium local barley to characterise its distinctive single malt whisky. Owners Suzy and Cam Brett are part of the ongoing Tassie spirits boom, and took out a gold medal at the 2022 Tasting Australia awards for their Apera/Sherry Cask Whisky.

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The Bureau Q&A: Alice Mckegg

As a little bonus surprise, this week’s Q&A guest is the brilliant Alice Mckegg. Alice is a beloved and accomplished former figure of influence in the Melbourne hospitality scene, who now plies her trade as a team leader in Diabetes Victoria’s Life! Program, raising awareness about type 2 diabetes and associated illnesses. Alice is a skilled and compelling leader, and truly one of the most inspiring women I have ever met. And, luckily for me, she has allowed me to be her partner for over a decade. Alice spoke to Bureau from the other room, where she was far too busy with more important things, but found the time to do this anyway.

Q: You've got a great passion for food, and come from a family where good food is valued and celebrated. What were some of your formative food experiences growing up?

A: I think the first time I remember feeling like food was an experience rather than a chore or fuel was something that my aunt Jeannie prepared, and it was a pear and blue cheese tart. I had never heard of or experienced anything like that. I would’ve been about nine or ten, and I could’ve eaten that whole thing if I’d been given the chance. 

I remember telling everyone at the table that I was going to be a chef after eating that meal. The other standout is the traditional family roast on Sunday, where everyone came together, shared a big meal where we got to pick what we put on our plates, such a decadent thing for a kid. My best friend’s Mum was a chef. I remember her putting orange segments in her green leafy salad and again not experiencing something as different as that. I always loved that salad when I dined at her place. The last one is a simple lamb chop, cooked on the barbecue.

Q: Throughout an amazing career in hospitality, you’ve worked at some of Melbourne’s best restaurants, like Cumulus Inc and Osteria Ilaria. What do you miss about hospo?

A: I miss the fun and the intensity of hospitality, the family that you create with the people that you work with, and I miss being able to see the direct effect of improving someone’s day through giving them an excellent experience in dining. I miss the thrill of absolutely smashing a really rough service and coming out the other side; that high.

I miss that when you finish work in hospitality, it’s done for the day. Once you leave the venue there’s no more customers that you need to serve; the same can’t be said for emails.

Q: You were also part of the opening team at Supernormal: one of the true restaurant phenomenons in recent Melbourne history. What was it like being part of that restaurant in the early days?

A: It was really hard. It was a brutal service, long shifts and a massive team, but it was absolutely a formative experience; how to provide a high level of service in a fast paced environment. 

The produce and products we were exposed to working at Supernormal were new, exciting and thrilling, and it really shaped a lot of who I am now in terms of how I viewed food and dining. I think I’ve been lucky in all of the places I’ve worked in hospitality. There have been some really key female leaders who I can learn from and enjoy working with, which is not the case for all hospitality venues.

Q: You graduated with a degree in biomedical science and have now moved into the preventative health space. What do you think drove you to pursue this career?

A: I think the reason that I moved into preventative health was primarily the food system and the way that it is structured, and the disparity between access to food. There’s a huge contrast between populations in the world and my time in hospitality exposed me to a lot of what goes on in these privileged tiers of society. It made me feel uncomfortable to not do something about that.

I think there’s a really clear link between where I came from in hospitality and how I’ve ended up in public health and my interest in food, and it’s a language that everyone speaks and an experience that everyone goes through every day. Trying to close the gap between the two ends of how food is consumed in Victoria.

Q: Although you’ve left hospitality, you’re still very connected to the industry, and are an ardent diner. What, to you, makes a good dining experience?

A: There are three parts to a good dining experience that the venue has control over. The first is attentive service. Attentive service differs, depending on the style of venue that you're dining in. I wouldn’t expect the same level of attention in your local pub or café compared to a three hatted restaurant, but making sure the service matches the experience is important. The second factor that the venue has control over is whether or not the food is interesting. It has to be delicious, it has to be fresh, and I really value quality over quantity. I love the trend towards multiple sharing plates; trying many things helps you have an interesting experience. The last thing that makes a good experience is the people that you’re dining with, or if you’re dining alone, being made to feel comfortable.

Q: What are some of your favourite places to eat in Melbourne?

A: I made it one of my New Year’s resolutions to patronise more female-owned or female-run businesses, so with that in mind, I’m going to try and keep that at the forefront. Disappointingly, it’s been more challenging than I expected for the Melbourne food scene to keep to this mantra.

Top of the list is Very Good Falafel, you will not find a better meal for better value.

Chi Bao - Yarraville, handmade dumpling magic.

Kenzan - this is the magic of stepping into another world that a really good venue can create. 

Ca com - Banh mi Richmond.

Market Lane - Prahran Market for coffee and the mushroom sanga.

Q: It’s International Women's Day; you’re a proud feminist and a great supporter of female led initiatives. Who are some of the women that inspire you, and why?

A: I think I’ve moved away from really big, key figures and focusing more on the women in my life who accomplish so much, despite the world they are in. I have a wonderful circle of women around me, and there isn’t one of them who I don’t love and admire. 

I think there are also some key people or fields who I look to, however I’m not into idolising people without accepting they have flaws or some views that I don’t fully support. 

I love Amy Poehler for her wit and how she lifts other women up, plus she is so funny.

Julia Gillard put up with so much as the first female leader of Australia, and I think she has done so many wonderful things for women and women leaders.

I love Judith Lucy, Yumi Stynes, Annabelle Crabbe, Michelle Wolf, Hillary Clinton, Clementine Ford; they are not perfect but they advocate for themselves and their beliefs. They are intelligent and fierce and have made waves for women. There are so many more, and I’ll kick myself later for not including someone.

Q: You’re a voracious reader. Tell us about some of your favourite recent books, in particular from female authors?

A: Catherine Lacey is one I’ve found recently. Such an interesting way to build characters and tell musical stories.

Yaa Gyasi - she has a few really beautiful, heartbreaking books.

I loved Hannah Gadsby's autobiography “10 Steps to Nanette”, and Bri Lee’s “Who Gets To Be Smart” are also recent highlights.