Irreverent, Relevant & Brave
Brave New Wine is the adventure of husband-and-wife team Andries Mostert and Yoko Luscher-Mostert, based in Denmark on Western Australia's stunning Great Southern coast. What began as a side project — a creative outlet from Andries' corporate winemaking career — became a full-time passion after redundancy forced the leap. Their philosophy is simple: make wines that taste good in surprising new ways. They source small volumes of high-quality fruit from well-farmed, organic and biodynamic vineyards across the Great Southern region and apply natural, minimal-intervention techniques: wild ferments, no fining, no filtration, and minimal or no sulphur. The result is a portfolio of honest, idiosyncratic wines that veer from the engagingly wild to the cheerfully gluggable. Yoko, a multi-talented artist with a part-finished visual arts degree, designs a brand-new, original label for every vintage of every wine — making every bottle a limited-edition piece of art. Three-time finalists in Australia's Young Gun of Wine Awards, winners of the 2017 Danger Zone with their botanically enhanced 'Wonderland' Riesling. This is not just wine. This is creative rebellion in a bottle.
From Corporate Cellars to Creative Liberation
Brave New Wine was born in 2012, but its spirit had been fermenting for nearly a decade before that. Andries Mostert had spent over twenty years in the conventional winemaking world — a career that took him across Australia, Italy and New Zealand. He studied chemistry and architecture in Perth before deflecting to a winemaking degree at Adelaide University. His first gig was at Moss Wood, working in the vineyard. Stints at Brokenwood, Shaw + Smith, Ashton Hills, Picardy (where he met Yoko amongst the vines), Plantagenet and Howard Park followed. He was a skilled, experienced winemaker — but something was missing.
Yoko Luscher-Mostert came from a different world entirely. A visual arts degree (part-finished), archaeology, accounting, anthropology, and a cabinetmaking apprenticeship — she admits to "a litany of unfinished qualifications." She supported herself working at pubs and cellar doors across Western Australia from a young age. She was the creative counterweight to Andries' technical precision. Together in Central Otago, New Zealand, the idea for Brave New Wine took shape.
Their first vintage was 2013 — a whole-bunch Chardonnay that became the inaugural 'Klusterphunk'. "We weren't really making these wines with a view to sell them," Yoko recalls. "More just for our own benefit and for friends and family. We very nearly tipped it down the drain, before we decided we needed to be brave, and trust that if we found it palatable someone else might too." A good review followed, and they were off. What began as a side project became a full-time calling when Andries was made redundant from his corporate winemaking job. The leap was forced — but it was the best thing that ever happened to them.
"We aim to make wines that taste good, and make you feel good. We hope that our wines can make your day a little better, that they add some fun to your hang-outs with mates."
— Yoko Luscher-Mostert
The Great Southern & Expressive Sites
Brave New Wine does not own a vineyard — yet. Instead, they operate as negociants with a conscience, seeking out tiny volumes of high-quality fruit from well-farmed vineyards across Western Australia's Great Southern region. The Great Southern is Australia's largest wine region, a vast and diverse landscape of rolling hills, rocky outcrops, and ancient soils that stretches from the coast at Albany and Denmark inland to Frankland River and Mount Barker. It is cool-climate country, famous for Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz — varieties that thrive in the maritime influence and long growing season.
Their sourcing philosophy is strict: fruit must be expressive of place, and the vineyards must utilise organic or biodynamic management. They work with a range of superb sites across the region, selecting parcels that speak to them each vintage. This approach gives them extraordinary freedom — they are not bound to a single terroir, a single variety, or a single style. Each year is a new canvas. The fruit is the guide, and their creative fancy is the brush.
In the winery, the approach is equally uncompromising. Wild ferments only — no cultured yeast. No fining. No filtration. Minimal or no sulphur additions — "a kiss of sulphur" at most. Traditional oak is used for some wines. Ceramic eggs feature. The techniques are as varied as the wines: carbonic maceration for light reds, skin contact for textural whites, flor ageing for complex oxidative styles, native botanicals for aromatised experiments. The only constant is the commitment to honesty — letting the fruit and the fermentation speak without interference.
Australia's largest wine region, stretching from the coast at Albany and Denmark to the inland areas of Frankland River and Mount Barker. Cool-climate, maritime-influenced, with diverse soils and topography. Known for exceptional Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz. Brave New Wine sources from multiple organic and biodynamic sites across this vast region.
Brave New Wine seeks out fruit that is expressive of place and farmed without synthetic chemicals. They work with growers who share their respect for soil health, biodiversity, and natural balance. This is not just about quality — it is about alignment. The vineyard practices must match the winery philosophy.
No cultured yeast. No fining agents. No filtration. Minimal or no sulphur. The wines ferment with indigenous yeasts, develop naturally, and are bottled with as little intervention as possible. This is natural winemaking in its purest Australian expression — honest, alive, and occasionally wild.
The winery is based in Denmark, a small coastal town in the heart of the Great Southern. Surrounded by karri forest, rugged coastline, and a thriving creative community, Denmark provides the perfect backdrop for a project that values artistry as much as agriculture. No cellar door — online and stockists only.
Constant Tightrope Walking & Creative Freedom
While many natural winemakers talk about early trials and tribulations, then settle into a more certain path, not so for Brave New Wine. Constant tightrope walking is essential to the soul of the project. "Every vintage is exciting, because we never know what's going to come of it, what new ideas we'll have to explore," says Yoko. This is not a winery that repeats itself. They make approximately 20 different wines each vintage, spanning the entire spectrum of styles: pét-nats, aromatised wines, skin-contact whites, flor-aged multi-vintage wines, light carbonic reds, weirdo blends, whole-bunch reds, and everything in between.
The winemaking is collaborative but defined. Andries pulls the levers in the winery — his two decades of technical experience providing the safety net that allows them to take risks. Yoko leads on the kaleidoscopic labels, drawing on her part-finished visual arts degree to create artwork that is as bold and surprising as the wine inside. Every vintage of every wine gets a brand new, custom-designed label. The 'Gewurlitzer' — a skinsy Gewürztraminer — features disco balls replacing gumnuts on eucalypt branches. The 'Mates & Lovers' pét-nat sports a diverse collection of floating, imbibing cartoon nudes. Both are stamped with the gilt BNW logo. These are not wine labels. These are gallery pieces.
The experimental batches are what truly floats their boat. A pét-nat from Vermentino fermented with local botanicals, then sent to bottle with local honey to go fizzy. A hard lemonade made with honey and lemons from their tree and limes from their neighbours. Fermenting grapes with native bush botanicals. Low-alcohol skinsy affairs. Fridge-able reds. The list is endless, and the only rule is that it must taste good. "These more experimental batches are what really floats our boat — it kind of keeps things fresh, ya know!"
The 2017 Danger Zone — 'Wonderland' Riesling
Brave New Wine's breakthrough moment came with their 2016 'Wonderland' Riesling — a Riesling fermented with native botanicals that won the 2017 Young Gun of Wine Danger Zone award. This was not just a wine; it was a statement. Wine meets native bush vermouth. Wildly delicious, utterly original, and proof that Australian natural wine could be as creative and boundary-pushing as anything coming out of Europe. The award cemented their reputation as one of the country's most exciting young producers and validated their belief that convention should be joyfully tossed out in pursuit of flavour. "Who knows where our wines will end up in the future," says Yoko. "Hopefully they'll be getting better and better!?"
Art, Wine & The Joy of Experimentation
Brave New Wine is more than a winery. It is a creative collaboration between two people who refuse to be pigeonholed. Andries brings the technical mastery — chemistry, architecture, two decades in the cellar. Yoko brings the creative chaos — visual arts, archaeology, anthropology, cabinetmaking, and an irrepressible desire to make things that are beautiful and surprising. Together, they have built something that sits at the intersection of wine and art, agriculture and imagination, tradition and rebellion.
The Great Southern region is their canvas. Stretching from the ancient granite soils of the Porongurup Range to the maritime breezes of Denmark and Albany, the region offers a diversity of terroir that matches their diversity of vision. They are part of a new wave of Western Australian producers — alongside Local Weirdos, Dormilona, and others — who are redefining what Australian wine can be. Not big, bold, and commercial. Not safe. But honest, experimental, and deeply connected to place.
Their wines are stocked by some of Australia's most respected natural wine retailers and bars, and they have begun to find international distribution. But the heart of the project remains the same: two people in Denmark, making wine they love, with fruit they respect, for people who want something different. "We make about 20 different wines across the spectrum... from pét-nats, to aromatised wines, to skin-contact whites, to flor-aged multi-vintage wines, to light carbonic reds, to weirdo blends, to whole-bunch reds and everything in between." This is Brave New Wine. This is the future of Australian natural wine — brave, new, and utterly uncompromising.
"Every vintage is exciting, because we never know what's going to come of it, what new ideas we'll have to explore."
— Yoko Luscher-Mostert
The Brave New Wine Range
Brave New Wine produces an ever-changing catalogue of approximately 20 wines each vintage — a kaleidoscopic range that spans pét-nats, skin-contact whites, aromatised wines, flor-aged expressions, light carbonic reds, whole-bunch reds, and experimental blends. While favourites tend to stay on the roster, what joins them is anyone's guess. The names are as playful as the wines: 'Gewurlitzer', 'Dreamland', 'Pi'Oui', 'Schadenfreude', 'Nat Daddy', 'Klusterphunk', 'Mates & Lovers'. Each wine features a unique, vintage-specific label designed by Yoko — making every bottle a limited-edition artwork. All wines are made with wild ferments, no fining, no filtration, and minimal or no sulphur.