{"id":32787,"date":"2014-05-02T07:06:47","date_gmt":"2014-05-01T21:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/?p=32787"},"modified":"2014-05-02T07:06:47","modified_gmt":"2014-05-01T21:06:47","slug":"qa-with-plonk-front-man-chris-taylor-the-expert-josh-tyler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/qa-with-plonk-front-man-chris-taylor-the-expert-josh-tyler\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&#038;A with PLONK front man, Chris Taylor &#038; \u2018The Expert\u2019, Josh Tyler"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pinkLinks\">If you haven\u2019t seen it, PLONK is a web series that explores Australia\u2019s beautiful wine regions. Series one focuses on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/accommodation\/australia\/nsw?cid=social=blog:lmau:retail::SM43:\">NSW<\/a>, and each episode captures a different destination, highlighting the quality and diversity of experiences available in each. PLONK is a love letter to the Australian wine industry, and it should be on your must-watch list. <!--more--><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align:center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S2ZBh2vESdw\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Read on to find out firsthand what it\u2019s like to make a wine show, taste delicious drops all day \u2013 and of course, explore New South Wales\u2019 fine wine regions.<br \/>\n<div id=\"attachment_32801\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/images.trvl-media.com\/media\/content\/expaus\/images\/last-minute\/blog\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Chris-Taylor-PLONK1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32801\" src=\"https:\/\/images.trvl-media.com\/media\/content\/expaus\/images\/last-minute\/blog\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Chris-Taylor-PLONK1-500x332.jpg\" alt=\" \" width=\"500\" height=\"332\" class=\"size-large wp-image-32801\" \/><\/a> <p id=\"caption-attachment-32801\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">L to R: Front man, Chris Taylor, struggling producer, Nathan Earl, and \u2018The Expert\u2019, Josh Tyler<\/p><\/div> <strong>What are your top three must-haves for a wine getaway? <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Chris:<\/strong><br \/>\nA: A designated driver<br \/>\nB: A back-up designated driver<br \/>\nC: The number of a good taxi company<br \/>\n<strong>Josh: <\/strong><br \/>\nA: Cheese<br \/>\nB: Cheese knife<br \/>\nC: Cheese board<br \/>\n<strong>PLONK sees the crew visit NSW wineries in Murrumbateman, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/accommodation\/australia\/nsw-hunter-region-nsw?cid=social=blog:lmau:retail::SM43:\">Hunter Valley<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/accommodation\/australia\/nsw-mudgee?cid=social=blog:lmau:retail::SM43:\">Mudgee<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/accommodation\/australia\/nsw-orange?cid=social=blog:lmau:retail::SM43:\">Orange<\/a>. Which NSW wine region was your favourite and why?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Chris:<\/strong><br \/>\nMy favourite wine region is actually Sydney Airport. We didn\u2019t get to film there unfortunately, but I love the stuff they\u2019re growing there and forcing you to taste at those little stands while you\u2019re rushing to catch a plane.<br \/>\n<strong>Josh:<\/strong><br \/>\nMurrumbateman is NSW wine regions\u2019 best kept secret; they literally hide it in the Canberra wine region.<br \/>\n<div id=\"attachment_32799\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/images.trvl-media.com\/media\/content\/expaus\/images\/last-minute\/blog\/uploads\/2014\/04\/PLONK-filming-vineyard1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32799\" src=\"https:\/\/images.trvl-media.com\/media\/content\/expaus\/images\/last-minute\/blog\/uploads\/2014\/04\/PLONK-filming-vineyard1-500x332.jpg\" alt=\" \" width=\"500\" height=\"332\" class=\"size-large wp-image-32799\" \/><\/a> <p id=\"caption-attachment-32799\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Filming amongst a NSW vineyard<\/p><\/div> <strong>Red or White? And any favourites? <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Chris:<\/strong><br \/>\nI like blue. <br \/>\n<strong>Josh:<\/strong><br \/>\nI prefer white with a dash of red; I think they call it a blend.<br \/>\n<strong>Are you a store-it or drink-it-now kind of wine drinker? <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Chris:<\/strong><br \/>\nI\u2019m more of a drink-it-now person. In fact, I\u2019m so impatient I often just suck the juice straight out of the grape on the vine rather than wait for it to be harvested and bottled.<br \/>\n<strong>Josh:<\/strong><br \/>\nBy \u201cstore-it\u201d, do you mean &#8211; drink it in the store? Isn\u2019t that same as \u201cdrink-it-now\u201d. I guess I do both.<br \/>\n<div id=\"attachment_32800\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/images.trvl-media.com\/media\/content\/expaus\/images\/last-minute\/blog\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Red-wine-tasting1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32800\" src=\"https:\/\/images.trvl-media.com\/media\/content\/expaus\/images\/last-minute\/blog\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Red-wine-tasting1-500x333.jpg\" alt=\" \" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" class=\"size-large wp-image-32800\" \/><\/a>  <p id=\"caption-attachment-32800\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"> <\/p><\/div> <strong>Have you visited any other wine regions around the world? How does NSW compare? <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Chris:<\/strong><br \/>\nI saw a replica of Bordeaux at Las Vegas once. They had strippers crushing the grapes. It was very authentic.<br \/>\n<strong>Josh:<\/strong><br \/>\nI drank kava in Fiji and I must say the wines of NSW are a lot less earthy.<br \/>\n<strong>Food and wine go hand-in-hand. Tell us about your best foodie experiences while filming? <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Chris:<\/strong><br \/>\nWe ate some excellent foodies. I ate Terry Durack for lunch one day, and followed it up with Matt Preston for dinner.<br \/>\n<strong>Josh:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn American backpacker gave me a bag of homemade green biscuits; I shared them with my driver. We got lost on someone\u2019s vineyard and followed a double rainbow to a watering hole full of pink dolphins. I regret not asking the backpacker for his recipe. Good bickies.<br \/>\n<div id=\"attachment_32795\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/images.trvl-media.com\/media\/content\/expaus\/images\/last-minute\/blog\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Josh-Hunter-Valley-Ballooning.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32795\" src=\"https:\/\/images.trvl-media.com\/media\/content\/expaus\/images\/last-minute\/blog\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Josh-Hunter-Valley-Ballooning-500x333.jpg\" alt=\" \" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" class=\"size-large wp-image-32795\" \/><\/a>   <p id=\"caption-attachment-32795\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"> <\/p><\/div> <strong>All of the wineries on the show were reached by car. Which wine region provides the best road trip from Sydney?  <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Chris:<\/strong><br \/>\nWe didn\u2019t actually travel by car for the show. That\u2019s all just CGI. We actually took the world\u2019s longest travelator to reach each region. It took hours. <br \/>\n<strong>Josh:<\/strong><br \/>\nThe one that passes the Big Merino. I love that thing. It\u2019s so big.<br \/>\n<strong>Before filming the show, how much did you know about wine? What did you learn? <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Josh:<\/strong><br \/>\nBefore filming the show I thought that they just let the grapes get mouldy and then squashed them but I now know that they convert the carbohydrates from the fruit into alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. I know what you\u2019re thinking but you\u2019re wrong &#8211; I didn\u2019t just copy and paste that from Wikipedia, I know this stuff for real now.<br \/>\n<strong>Tell us about the best hotel you stayed at when you were on the road for PLONK?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Chris:<\/strong><br \/>\nI\u2019m a method actor, so I never stayed in hotels. I slept each night inside a wine barrel to immerse myself into the character.<br \/>\n<div id=\"attachment_32803\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/images.trvl-media.com\/media\/content\/expaus\/images\/last-minute\/blog\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Nathan-Chris-Tim1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32803\" src=\"https:\/\/images.trvl-media.com\/media\/content\/expaus\/images\/last-minute\/blog\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Nathan-Chris-Tim1-500x332.jpg\" alt=\" \" width=\"500\" height=\"332\" class=\"size-large wp-image-32803\" \/><\/a>  <p id=\"caption-attachment-32803\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"> <\/p><\/div> <strong>Josh, You have a blog, <a href=\"http:\/\/shirazamataz.tumblr.com\/\"> shirazamataz.tumblr.com<\/a>, where you document behind-the-scenes of the PLONK series. I saw that you got to meet Chief Funster, Andrew Smith. Did you get to meet any other notable Aussies on your trip around NSW?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Josh:<\/strong><br \/>\nI got to meet Chris Taylor. Although, by the end of the shoot I was told to stay at least fifty metres away from him at all times and I couldn\u2019t look him in the eye (not even from fifty metres away). <br \/>\n<strong>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/accommodation\/australia\/nsw-hunter-region-nsw?cid=social=blog:lmau:retail::SM43:\">Hunter Valley<\/a> is probably NSW\u2019s most well-known wine region. Do you have any insider\u2019s tips on the region that regulars might not even know about? <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Chris:<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Bunnings at Maitland has a great 2-for-1 deal on eskies at the moment.<br \/>\n<strong>If you could go wine tasting with any celebrity, who would it be and why?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Chris:<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Dalai Lama \u2013 because he doesn\u2019t drink, so there\u2019d be more wine left for me.<br \/>\n<strong>Josh:<\/strong><br \/>\nChris Taylor. My Mum\u2019s lawyer is looking into the fifty-metre rule.<br \/>\n<div id=\"attachment_32802\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/images.trvl-media.com\/media\/content\/expaus\/images\/last-minute\/blog\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Nathan-Chris-Josh-winery1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32802\" src=\"https:\/\/images.trvl-media.com\/media\/content\/expaus\/images\/last-minute\/blog\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Nathan-Chris-Josh-winery1-500x331.jpg\" alt=\" \" width=\"500\" height=\"331\" class=\"size-large wp-image-32802\" \/><\/a>  <p id=\"caption-attachment-32802\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"> <\/p><\/div> <strong>Chris, I saw an interview of you recently where you mentioned that some of your family actually called you after having seen PLONK, thinking that the show was a documentary and you were playing a serious role. Do you resonate with the on-set Chris Taylor at all, or is it all for the show?<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Chris:<\/strong><br \/>\nI don\u2019t resonate with any version of Chris Taylor. I find him extremely aloof.<br \/>\n<strong>Where to next for the PLONK team? <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Chris:<\/strong><br \/>\nBunnings, obviously. Weren\u2019t you listening about that amazing esky deal?!!<br \/>\n<strong>Josh:<\/strong><br \/>\nSeason two is in the pipeline, as is a line of PLONK beauty products. <br \/>\n<div id=\"attachment_32798\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/images.trvl-media.com\/media\/content\/expaus\/images\/last-minute\/blog\/uploads\/2014\/04\/PLONK-crew.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32798\" src=\"https:\/\/images.trvl-media.com\/media\/content\/expaus\/images\/last-minute\/blog\/uploads\/2014\/04\/PLONK-crew-500x333.jpg\" alt=\" \" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" class=\"size-large wp-image-32798\" \/><\/a> The PLONK crew<p id=\"caption-attachment-32798\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"> <\/p><\/div> <strong>Watch episode one here:<\/strong><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align:center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rjvi_1dMDq4?list=PL2H9z1DyqJN8YCw-OrgPssNGJt-vgQ9ge\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>\n<strong><em>What\u2019s your favourite NSW wine region? Tell us below in the comments.<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<strong><font color=\"ec008c\"><font size=\"3\">NSW is on sale now! Book a hotel from $99 per night <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/dms\/site\/nsw\/index.html?cid=social=blog:lmau:retail::SM43\">here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/font><\/font>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you haven\u2019t seen it, PLONK is a web series that explores Australia\u2019s beautiful wine regions. Series one focuses on..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":32792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,9,11],"tags":[164,4238,16,4239,794,4240,4241,4242,4243,3569,4244,4245,21,2775,1269],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32787"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}