‘It was a labour of love to create’: Nina Throsby on creating Gibney’s monster wine list
At 30 years old, sommelier Nina Throsby created a wine list par excellence at Perth restaurant, Gibney. How did she go about assembling a monster collection of 660 wines?
Australia’s hospitality industry is buzzing about the wine list you have created at Gibney, in Perth’s Cottesloe. How long did it take you to develop both the list and the cellar? It is a monster, with around 660 on the list. It spans continents, regions and styles with one common factor – incredible producers. It was a labour of love to create, and took considerable time, years actually. From holding back museum stock with our sister venue The Shorehouse, and working with producers we’ve had longstanding relationships with that could provide us with back vintages and interesting titles that aren’t so commonplace on lists these days. It was a privilege to have been given such access to these wines. Gibney is their forever home.
Is it possible to overwhelm people with choice when it comes to wines?Yes and no. I think part of a sommelier’s job is to curate, not to overwhelm. I believe sometimes we assume the guest isn’t as interested as we think. Choice is good as long as there is curation and direction, then the guest never loses their way.
What are some of the strong trends you are seeing currently from customers? There are always trends that last seasons or even years: orange wine, rosé then chilled red have all had their moments in the sun. But the real considered trend that has outlasted it all is the continued and sustained trend of the growing knowledge of guests. The increased awareness of regions, wine styles and vintages is astounding. It is wonderful as a sommelier to see.
Are you a strong believer in food and wine pairings, or can diners go off-piste when choosing wines for their tastes? I think there is merit to both ideologies. There is no doubt that incredible food and wine pairings exist but I have always been of the thought that diners should enjoy the food they want to order and the wine they want to drink, within reason of course. There is no denying that duck and pinot noir go wonderfully together – but if the guest doesn’t drink light-bodied reds then it’s never going to work. Food and wine matching is as much about the guest as it is about the flavour profile of the wine.
What’s the role of the sommelier in a top restaurant?
If I have learnt anything in my time, our job as sommeliers is to build relationships, both on the floor with guests and off the floor with distributors and producers. It’s this very delicate network of what is available to you as a buyer and what will work that is important. Our job is to decant – not just literally decant wine, but to decant information and stories and experiences that we have had all over the world and bring them to the guest within the confines of a restaurant floor.
Did you lean towards West Australian producers when making this list? The WA wine scene continues to go from strength to strength. It’s this intricate tapestry of smaller producers and established names that creates such interesting stories. When we created this list we wanted to honour those producers who had created legacies within our state but not show them in a vacuum. It’s been such a privilege to showcase incredible producers from our backyard, especially the fortifieds from the Swan Valley. There is such a rich history of production, and the wines are so complex and excellent.
gibneycottesloe.com
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