Meet the man bringing Tasmanian wines to the world

‘In the Czech republic, those called Josef are nicknamed Pepik,’ says Dineen of the Sekt’s name, referencing the Chromy founder’s background. Now 87, Josef fled his war-torn Czech homeland as a destitute 20-year-old following 11 years of Nazi and Soviet occupation, escaping minefields and fortified borders, enduring five months of privation before emigrating to Australia, the country being ‘as far away from communism as he could get’.

Josef ‘couldn’t even afford a Coke on the boat over’, continues Dineen, spending the first years of his new life cutting asbestos and sleeping in a ‘fibro hut’. However, determination to excel saw him amass a 20-strong chain of butcher shops and five meat exporters employing 550 staff. From the early 1990s, Josef saw an opportunity to nurture Tasmania’s fledgling wine industry.

Heath, the Red Lion & Sun’s landlord, plays Veruca Salt then The Lemonheads in honour of Dineen, a ‘failed bass guitarist’. Dineen mentions he installed a 100-volt line to convey his half terabyte-worth of saved music throughout the Tasmanian winery. ‘Press play and you have music for a year and a half.’ The combination of tunes and ferment leads him to describe the best wine experiences, like today, as being about ‘time and place’…