Chooks and circular wine

I’ve been so busy babbling about pouches of Douglas and crazy cycling adventures that I forgot to tell you about a “circular wine” event I attended this week at Australia’s largest hotel, the Hyatt Regency Sydney.

What’s circular wine?

It involves hotel food waste being consumed by millions of black soldier fly larvae—or maybe maggots, or maybe both, I’m slightly not sure—that excrete nutrient-rich frass, which becomes fertiliser that is used to nourish vines that produce grapes that become wine that is returned to the hotel to serve to its guests.

Cool, huh?

Other than the words “larvae” and “maggots”, which make me feel slightly squeamish as I type them.

Four Winds Vineyard collaborated with Hyatt Regency Sydney and food waste innovator Goterra on the project. And I got to try the inaugural wine – Four Winds Vineyard’s 2025 Circular Vintage Shiraz.

The launch was held in the hotel’s Atrium bar and there were chickens! Actual, real life chickens! I love chickens so I was very stoked.

The chickens were from Hilltops Free Range Eggs and they are fed the maggots after they’ve finished pooping out frass.

There was also a panel session about how the project came about, which was fascinating. So much passion in the room for making the world a better place.

I also chatted with Four Winds winemaker Sarah Collingwood, her husband and their two lovely daughters, which was a very fan girl moment for me.

And I got to see the big container where the waste is turned into frass, but I politely declined an offer to don rubber gloves and unearth squirming maggots in a tray of frass.

As for the wine, it’s excellent, which is hardly surprising as Four Winds Vineyard won the prestigious Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy
for its 2023 Shiraz in the 2024 Melbourne Royal Wine Awards.

The head chef at the Hyatt had curated lots of delicious nibbles matched to the wine, which I thoroughly enjoyed before pootling off into the night to catch the bus home.

Four Winds Vineyard’s 2025 Circular Vintage Shiraz is being poured in the Hyatt Regency’s restaurant and lounge bar. A Circular Vintage Riesling will also be introduced to hotel patrons in September.

Have a great weekend, catch you next week.

Song of the day: Spandau Ballet “Round and round”