Rebecca Yazbek of Sydney’s Nomad on her five most significant wines

01

Collector Shiraz

Al, my business partner and husband, and I had just started dating, and we were on a trip to Canberra. We ordered this wine with dinner one night and it was the first time I’d seen such a beautiful, clean design on a wine label. My background is design, so it was a combination of the label being really modern and the juice coming out of the bottle being incredible too. Plus, it was freezing outside and I’m with the man

I’m falling in love with, in this tiny restaurant in the middle of nowhere. It also marked the beginning of conversations about Nomad, because it was about bringing that kind of wine to the city.

02 d’meure Pinot Noir

We were in Hobart and had a booking at [nowclosed] Garagistes. We decided to walk there, but my husband thought we were lost – there’s nothing around and then you walk into this big barn full of people. We were early, so sat at the bar and were starving, so we ordered some oysters. Because we were in Tassie, my husband wanted pinot and I was like, ‘We’re not having pinot with oysters!’ But they brought over this wine – one of the only locals on the list – and we had it with warm oysters, which we weren’t expecting; they were served on heated rocks with an aged apple cider vinegar. It was a complete flavour explosion.

03 Yarra Yering Dry Red Wine No. 2

We visited this cellar door, which is in this little schoolroom surrounded by fig trees that were heaving with fruit at the time. There was no one else there, so we sampled the whole range. We bought a 2011 Dry Red No. 2 and asked if we could pick some figs, which they were so lovely about. Our dingo-cross pup was with us too, running around, having a ball. We went to a local river with this gorgeous wine and fresh figs, and it showed me that just because you’ve got an amazing wine, you don’t need to enjoy it in a certain way. Sitting on twigs and leaves, and drinking it from plastic cups felt very decadent.

04 Ten Minutes by Tractor Chardonnay

Al and I got married at

Ten Minutes by Tractor, and their wines are definitely what took us to the Mornington Peninsula. People wondered why we were getting married there and our thinking was that it wasn’t really a wedding, but more of a dinner, and the wines are definitely why we chose it as our venue. We pulled back the food and tried to ramp up the wine side of it; their chardonnay is just my favourite. It was the first glass of wine I poured after having my first child. I’m now pregnant with my second child and it will be the first glass I pour after having this one too!

05 Latta Vino Eastern Peake Wines

Discovering Owen

Latta’s wines was my first experience of minimal intervention in all its glory. The story of his wines from Victoria’s Ballarat, and the level of attention and care he puts into them, is just incredible – from the labels to the bottles and the wine itself. I love seeing his labels, which is rare, but you’ll find them every now and again on a wine list, and they’re always my go-to because I know I’m in for something special. Even if I’ve had the wine before, I know that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be the same experience. That’s what I love about his stuff.