Winemaker Michael Unwin flicks the red wine inside his glass over his shoulder. 

“We’ll have to sip and spit,” he tells a group of budding winemakers. 

“Because we are going to be tasting a lot of wine.” 

The occasion is the Be a Winemaker for the Day event, which is held at Michael Unwin Wines in Beaufort on the fourth Sunday of the month. 

Mr Unwin has a lot of feathers in his cap; the main being one of western Victoria’s most renowned winemakers. 

Alongside fellow winemaker Jean-Paul, Mr Unwin prides himself on growing and bottling a diverse grape range. 

“We usually hold this session during vintage and go home with red skin,” he said. “But this time we have really hyped up the food.”

However, a perfect drop of red or white isn’t made in a day. 

“We can make wine in about five days. Normally it takes about 15 days,” Mr Unwin said. “But it’s not ready to sell or bottle for a long time.”

Mr Unwin last week bottled shiraz from the 2007 vintage. 

“I have a standard shiraz, cabernet, chardonnay, riesling and a have a passion for lesser-known varieties,” he said. “I grow durif, barbera, tempranillo and sangiovese, which are really common in Europe.”

About 15 people had signed up for the winemaking masterclass, with The Courier attending the session held on the last Sunday in September. 

Mr Unwin begins the class with a tour of his workspace. 

We wander through the large warehouse with wooden wine barrels towering above. 

We are shown the de-stemmer and crusher for both red and white varieties, how to gorge sparkling wines and given a lesson on fermentation. 

First the grapes are picked, de-stemmed, left to ferment and then pressed. 

“Making wine is so, so simple,” Mr Unwin said. 

So much so, he prepared a mock-wine in 10 minutes as part of a demonstration.

A three-course gourmet lunch is prepared by Beaufort chef Sara Kittelty, with the food served in a makeshift alfresco dining area.

Oxtail croquets, Tuki smoked trout in a watercress salad with pickled red onion, a serve of rare slow-roasted beef and, for dessert, fresh raspberries in chardonnay jelly. 

But Mr Unwin deliberately doesn’t match the food with the wine. 

“No matter how well you match, there will always be a better match,” he said. 

kara.irving@fairfaxmedia.com.au