Cyndal Petty: A Contemporary Voice in Australian Wine

About Cyndal Petty

Cyndal Petty is a Western Australian wine writer, critic, and presenter whose work sits at the intersection of hospitality, storytelling, and modern wine culture. She contributes to publications including Halliday, Broadsheet and Sitchu, and is a regular critic for Winepilot. Alongside her writing, she leads tastings, panels and masterclasses, while also appearing regularly at events and on television.

Her career in hospitality began at 15, training initially as a chef before moving into wine and restaurant service. In a previous Group Sommelier role, she oversaw seven wine lists across multiple venues and helped guide a wine program that achieved Gourmet Traveller Wine Bar of the Year shortly after opening. Today, she works freelance as a writer, critic, presenter, and consultant.

Cyndal is also an active wine show judge, with an approach shaped by both technical training and a broad hospitality perspective. Across all her work, she brings a consistent philosophy: that wine is as much about people and place as it is about style and scorecards.

What distinguishes her voice is its accessibility. Now based in WA’s southwest region, she has embraced a more relaxed coastal chapter, still deeply embedded in the industry, but with a renewed focus on storytelling, regional expression, and bringing wine to a broader audience.

Featured Wine: Singlefile Family Reserve Chardonnay

Drinking Like a Sommelier

When discussing the difference between reviewing wine professionally and drinking personally, her answer reflects a thoughtful balance between precision and pleasure:

“A great wine should, at its base, be something that brings joy to the drinker. Technical tasting doesn’t change that, although structural markers still need to be met, and when reviewing, I have to look at wines as the sum of all parts, not simply whether it is delicious.

For personal drinking, I tend to lean toward either ‘fun’ or ‘fine’. I think of fun wines as the styles I may not usually come across while on the clock; whether that’s sherry, Jura, emerging producers or anything that feels exploratory and amusing.

When seeking out fine wines, I look for the best examples of regional expression, great vintages, greater quality. You only have 26,645 (ish) days on this earth - we’re not here to kiss spiders.”

Sharing the Great Southern Story

Through her work as a critic and presenter, Cyndal is passionate about championing the wines and stories of the Great Southern. She offers a modern perspective on a region long admired within the industry, yet still something of a discovery for many wine drinkers. 

Asked what makes the Great Southern such a compelling place to make wine, she speaks as much about landscape as she does wine itself:

“The Great Southern has huge skies, long rural roads and striking landscapes that force perspective. The wines have energy and focus. They are detailed and expressive, and with such a vast area covered, the diversity is endlessly exciting.

It also amuses me that the region’s naturally cool-climate style and finesse make it incredibly on-trend, yet it remains one of Australia’s most humble wine regions.”

Featured wine: Singlefile 'The Pamela' Porongurup Riesling

A Personal Connection to Singlefile

For Cyndal, Singlefile is more than a producer encountered through professional tasting; it was one of the first cellar doors she visited after arriving in Western Australia.

At the time, she recalls being newly arrived and, in her own words, “the epitome of bougie but broke.” Despite the cost, she and her partner purchased a case of wine, placed it carefully into the wine fridge, and slowly worked through the bottles over the weeks that followed.

One memory in particular has stayed with her: opening a bottle of Singlefile Chardonnay at sunset and drinking it while filleting whiting off the back of the cruiser in West Cape Howe National Park. There was no formal tasting moment, just wine enjoyed in the context of place, against the backdrop of the Great Southern coast.

It is this sense of authenticity and connection that echoes through her broader philosophy on wine: that the best bottles are often the ones remembered not simply for how they tasted, but for where and how they were shared.