Celine Rousseau grew up near the Loire Valley in France and has been making wine in Australia for over 25 years. Photo: Eden Road Wines.
Who are you?
Celine Rousseau, chief winemaker and manager of Eden Road Wines.
Tell me about Eden Road Wines.
Eden Road has two estate vineyards, 10 hectares altogether. One is located in Murrumbateman, and the other is at Lake George, which is much cooler and situated on a slope. We grow the shiraz and riesling at our Murrumbateman estate: the two icons of Canberra district wines. We crush around 200 tonnes of grapes annually, which equates to around 160,000 bottles of wine. Estate vineyard grapes make up about 40 to 50 per cent of that, and then we buy in the rest from other vineyards in the Tumbarumba and Hilltops region.
How did you get involved in the wine industry?
I’m originally from the Loire Valley, but I studied microbiology and biochemistry in Paris. There’s a lot of science behind winemaking, and that degree put me on the path to becoming a winemaker. I did a diploma in Oenology in Bordeaux, spent some time in Champagne, and came to Australia 25 years ago.
I also have family who work in the wine industry in the Loire Valley: I’ve been visiting my Uncle’s vineyard since I was 8 years old with my parents, so I had that family background as well.
You need to have a passion for the industry, as it’s physically demanding and also very male-dominated. So it’s a fairly tough environment, but I’m a hands-on winemaker and I love it.
If you weren’t a winemaker, what would you be doing instead?
While I was doing my degree, my dream job before winemaking was to be a perfume maker.
In France, they call it ‘the nose’: a person who can blend different perfumes to create new fragrances. There’s a school in France, but I didn’t have the maths results to get in.
If you don’t come from a prestigious school, it’s very tough to get into the industry, and it’s also really a man’s world, so it’s difficult for women. But I was always drawn toward aroma and flavour, I have a good nose and a good palate. So I thought winemaking would be one of the best things I could do with that science background.
Murrumbateman wineries offer some of the nation’s best wines. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
What is your winemaking philosophy?
To make wine that reflects the vineyard site – the terroir, as we say in France – and the connection between vine, clone, soil and climate.
I think it’s important to have that identity, almost a fingerprint on the wine, which you can trace all the way back to the wine site.
I strive to minimise my impact in winemaking by being attentive to details, ensuring the fruit’s expression is preserved and kept intact until the wine is bottled. You have to have a gentle touch.
What’s an underrated Canberra region venue that you love?
Clementine Bakery in Murrumbateman. It’s a French bakery and they make the best bread and pain au chocolat. I’d recommend going on a drive from Canberra to have breakfast there.
Who do you admire in the Canberra food scene?
A place I love to go is Bar Rochford. Nick has been a very good operator, and I really admire the business he has built. He’s got a wide range from natural to more classic wines from all around the world. The food is always amazing.
If I want something more substantial to eat, I go to visit my friend Clement at Les Bistronomes. He’s been really successful, and now he’s spread out to Brisbane at Montrachet. I think in Canberra, the best French food is at Les Bistronomes: it’s a traditional bistro style but more refined.
Celine reckons Les Bistronomes does the best French food in Canberra. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
Who is your dream dinner party guest, and what would you make them?
Someone I’d really like to meet is Jodie Foster because I admire what she does: she’s smart, she’s driven, she went from acting very young to being a director, and she fought for gay rights. I think she’s great. And she speaks French as well, which would make it easy for us to communicate.
I think I would make a double-baked goat cheese soufflé paired with a dry Vouvray, then something like a bouillabaisse [traditional French fish soup] with a Chablis Premier Cru. And cheese instead of dessert. To pair with that, I’d go with Bordeaux, because that’s where I studied: maybe a Chateau Margaux.
What are your current food or wine obsessions?
I’ve been enjoying a Chardonnay we made in 2024 from our Lake George vineyard. It’s fruit that we grow on just half a hectare planted in 1971, which makes it the oldest block in the Canberra district.
It has flavours of stone fruit with a bit of passionfruit, which is unusual for chardonnay. Really great minerality and acidity, and aged in French Oak.
What’s the best thing you ate this week?
My partner is vegan, and this week we made rice paper rolls with veggies, shallots and tofu. We put them in the air fryer and then dipped them in a mixture of soy sauce and peanut butter.
What’s a food that reminds you of your childhood?
It would have to be a classic French dish like boeuf bourguignon. My mum used to cook it quite a lot.
Celine is a wine judge, as well as an accomplished winemaker. Photo: Eden Road Wines.
When you can’t be bothered to cook for yourself, where do you go and what do you eat?
I live on the property during the week, but on weekends I stay in Sydney. There’s a Japanese place near us called Wafu Kitchen where we often get something.
Where have you been travelling recently?
I’ve recently come back from visiting my family in the south of France for five weeks. My partner and I got married in May in Australia, so this was a big family celebration with my family near Avignon.
Tell me something you love about living in Canberra?
I like the fact that there are four seasons. It reminds me of Europe in that way, and every season brings something good.
What TV show or movie are you watching right now?
My partner and I have been binging Succession.
An easy one to finish – what’s your go-to coffee order?
I actually switched to decaf coffee six months ago. So now I have a decaf, almond milk cappuccino.
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