Nick O'Leary is a name featured on many a wine list across Canberra.
The riesling is a particular favourite, as is the rosé, with some going as far to say it's the drink of choice for Canberra women, in particular.
And now there is one menu where the perfect Nick O'Leary drop is guaranteed, with the recent opening of the winery's new cellar door, Heywood.
Located on the Wallaroo property, the cellar door is a chance to not only taste an old faithful, but to potentially discover a new favourite from the curated selection of his award-winning vintages, new releases and museum wines.
"We certainly sell a lot of the riesling, as well as the rosé," O'Leary said.
"But the great thing since we've been open is people trying different wines. They go, 'I didn't know you made three different rieslings'. And then they go, 'We actually never buy your red because we always bought the riesling but we really liked the red'.
"In that way, [the cellar door] is doing exactly what we wanted - to have people come out and then experience new things as well. Not just the wines that they already knew."
Heywood has been a long time coming for the winery. It's been the logical step since O'Leary started making wine 14 years ago.
Then, when he and his wife Amy bought the Wallaroo property seven years ago, the original homestead - which was near the road and with brilliant views of the surrounding property - was always flagged to be the future cellar door.
When it comes to the menu at Heywood, the philosophy is pretty simple. Good food, good wine. And the philosophy certainly seems to be drawing a crowd. Since opening to the public earlier this month, the cellar door, known as Heywood, has been drawing a crowd.
Friday lunch time was booked solid. Meanwhile, Saturday and Sunday's sittings are booked out for the next three weeks.
"We're having to stop the bookings inside," O'Leary said.
"We can take walk-ins but you've got to sit outside and in winter on a nice day, it's full, but if it's not there's room. It's classic Canberra weather - even out here it can get pretty chilly. But summer we're expecting it to be pretty good."
The restaurant itself embraces the concept of farm to table, sourcing the finest local ingredients to create dishes that harmonise beautifully with the wines on offer.
With Matt Fely (formerly of Ginger Catering at the National Arboretum) at the helm, O'Leary said the menu aimed to be one full of food designed to be eaten with wine, but not necessarily matched.
"I didn't want wine matches on the menu because I think wine is a very personal thing for everyone," O'Leary said.
"You've got your classic wine and food matches, and then you've got other things that might not work for you but they work for someone else.
"I've never really been too intent on matching wines here.
"There are items on the menu that are your classic matches - with a reisling you'd do seafood, oysters. And then with tempornillo and shiraz, we've got duck and actually kangaroo skewers on the menu as well. So there are things like that, but we let people decide."
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