Three local restaurant sommeliers have joined forces to produce their own wine label, Hunting on Sundays: let to right, Nick Barton, James Duffel and Travis Cutler.

Three local restaurant sommeliers have joined forces to produce their own wine label, Hunting on Sundays: let to right, Nick Barton, James Duffel and Travis Cutler. Photo: Graham Tidy

There’s a new winemaking trio in the city – actually, they work in restaurants, but they’ve turned also to making their own wine, under the label Hunting on Sundays.
The name? It ‘‘reflects our interest in producing our on food as much as it speaks to our lives in hospitality,’’ says Travis Cutler, pictured below, at right, sommelier at Thirst. The other two are Nick Barton, left, from Rubicon, and James Duffell, formerly of the Lanterne Rooms. Duffell is winemaker and they’ve had help from Nick O’Leary, whose place they used to make the wine, after starting it in the garage.
The three picked the cabernet themselves, using grapes from Yarrh and Long Rail Gully, then added shiraz to give it ‘‘density and structure’’. They launch it on Sunday at the Knightsbridge Penthouse in Braddon, cooking a whole pig on the spit to mark the occasion. ‘‘You might ask why such an elaborate celebration for our small little wine?’’ Cutler says (handy when they ask the questions too). ‘‘Having been in Europe last year, James and myself have come to respect the connection that families who produce wine place on the food that they serve alongside it and with whom they share it.
They’ve made 350 cases, and Cutler says it’s better than their first wine last year because they’ve got more equipment and blending options. It’s $20.