Josh Di Stefano and Florence "Flo" Diffey have opened Vera Wine on Hamilton's Beaumont Street

Josh Di Stefano and his fiance and business partner Florence "Flo" Diffey have opened Vera Wine bottle shop and liquor store on Beaumont Street, Hamilton, with the goal of providing many wines not seen around these parts.

The couple have relocated here from Melbourne with their three kids - Elvis (4), Louis (2) and Pearl (9 months).

Di Stefano was keen to tell his story.

What's your wine industry history?

After working for a few years in the Melbourne coffee scene, I helped set up the coffee program at Dinner By Heston which is where I fell in love with wine.

I moved on to work at an amazing little wine bar in Fitzroy, Bar Liberty. The team there are still doing incredible things. Definitely need to check it out next time you are in town.

After Florence and I started having kids, I was lucky enough to score a spot with the team at Blackhearts & Sparrows. These guys are doing some really special things within the wine retail world. The best employers I've ever had. I managed their Collingwood store on Smith Street.

Florence was lucky enough to grow up surrounded by wine. Her dad, Gerald Diffey owns one of Melbourne's best wine bars, Gerald's Bar. From living above it, to working in it, she has been exposed to some pretty incredible people. She moved on from there to work in some great venues including Marion on Gertrude St, Fitzroy. After we started having kids, she also moved into wine retail, working for Prince Wine Store in South Melbourne.

Florence is also a Wine and Spirits Education Trust educator. She's just about to start setting up a Newcastle branch of WSET and offering courses here.

Why open a wine store in Newcastle?

I grew up here, so it was a bit of a homecoming for me. Initially I convinced Florence to have a test year here. I had been in Melbourne for eight years and I missed my family and the beach a lot.

Florence and I had been toying with the idea of doing something since the day we met, we just didn't know what.

We feel that there are so many great bottle shops doing amazing things for beer but thought there was a bit of a gap in the market when it comes to wine-focused retail.

Will you be bringing some of the contemporary tastes of Melbourne with you?

When we arrived in Newcastle we found that a lot of the wines that we were buying, selling and drinking in Melbourne weren't represented here. A lot of the distributors and producers we are working with have said that they haven't sold to Newcastle before. We are extremely excited to be sharing some seriously special things with the people of Newcastle.

What are you stocking?

The most important thing for us is making sure that everyone who comes through our door is able to leave with a bottle in a style and a price point that they're wanting. Whether you're after something cheap and cheerful for a week night or after that special bottle to impress the in-laws, there will be something here for you.

We do have a focus on sustainable winemaking and organics with a great selection of more 'LoFi' styles of wine. These include skin contact whites and chilled reds.

Our wine selection comes from all over the world, from local stuff through to France, Austria and Spain to name a few.

What are you drinking at the moment?

That's a great question! Now that the Knights are back on the tele, we've been drinking lots of New England IPA's and fresher styles of pale ale and lagers. A fan favourite in our house at the moment is the Mountain Culture Status Quo Pale Ale.

When it comes to wine, we are drinking a lot of Sicilian reds from our 'Bright and Crunchy' section of the shop. Mortellito Rosso is made from the indigenous grapes of Frappato and Nero d'Avola coming from their organically grown vineyard. Lots of raspberries and strawberries. Perfect on a humid afternoon with a slight chill!

You have local wines and winemakers?

We've been overwhelmed with how much great wine is coming out of the Hunter. Unfortunately it's not represented so well down in Victoria and the wines that are, are quite big and commercial.

Coming back home has been a steep learning curve and we've been lucky enough to be guided through it all from a couple of local legends, Leigh Dryden from Decante This and Daniel Briant from Funky Drop.

Local things you'll find on our shelves are:

Dirt Candy: Daniel is a great winemaker and a super busy guy. Making wine is difficult at the best of times, but especially when you're a full-time school teacher. Currently on our shelves: "The Little General" Cabernet Franc and "The Gamechanger" Rose.

Maker Master Merchant: Joint forces of Aaron Mercer (the Maker), Ned Goodwin MW (the Master) and Andrew Jamieson (the Merchant). These wines are designed to create affordable wines from organic vineyards in their 'backyard'. Great value here!

Tim Ward's I'll Fly Away: One of the best guys in the industry. One of our neighbours making great wines from interesting grape varieties. Lots of delicious Pet-Nats in store. We will definitely be getting him in for lots of in store tastings.

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