CBR Wine Hunter: Meet your new shortcut to Canberra’s cellar doors
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When a friend visiting from Germany asked Sam McKeon for a list of Rieslings from the Canberra region, he assumed it would be as simple as a Google search, and the job would be done.
Instead, he found himself wading through sponsored ads and scattered search results, unable to easily find what local wineries were offering; let alone compare styles, vintages, or prices.
So, he decided to build something himself.
Four months later, the result is a comprehensive digital guide to the Canberra wine region – the CBR Wine Hunter.
“I wanted a no-fuss, no-nonsense way to get an aggregated view of the region’s wines,” explains Sam.
“I work in plant biosecurity in the Department of Agriculture by day, but in another life, I was in web development. This is a combination of messing around here at home, and I’ve also leveraged Claude Code, so there’s AI in riding shotgun along with me.”
Listing over 580 wines from 38 different wineries, CBR Wine Hunter is updated daily, offering a current view of Canberra’s wine landscape. It allows users to search by winery, variety, vintage and price range, also sharing information about the district itself.
“This might be useful for someone who is visiting, or if a Canberran has asked ‘What’s a good Shiraz for less than $30?’, you can instantly get a list of all the Shiraz under $30 available in the region,” says Sam.
“Once you have narrowed the list down, when you click it takes you directly to the winery’s sales side, and directly to the wine as well…it should be the fastest and easiest way to buy the wine online or find the cellar door that you can physically buy it from.”
CBR Wine Hunter also offers a comprehensive dissection of the Canberra district’s award-winning wines, breaking down the region’s finest by competition, year or winery. And if that’s not enough, it can also build users their very own wine tour with the ‘Plan a visit’ section.
“It has which wineries are open and which ones carry what. Even if you’re local and haven’t done a Canberra winery tour before, instead of Googling and checking each site individually and pulling the itinerary together, this does it automatically,” explains Sam.
“It uses current data through Google, and it does have an AI engine behind it that should help you optimise your trip or narrow things down for you.”
Born and raised in Canberra as a proud northsider, Sam knows the wine region well, and his passion for wine is obvious.
He’s currently undertaking his WSET Level 3 Award in Wines – a globally recognised qualification for professionals and dedicated enthusiasts – and says that he studies wine out of genuine interest. However, he admits he is more of an “enthusiastic hobbyist” rather than a formal sommelier.
“I probably drink a bit more of it than I should, so I thought if I got qualified, I can justify the amount that I do consume,” he says with a laugh.
Still in its early phase, Sam isn’t sure what the future of CBR Wine Hunter is just yet. He’s hopeful that it will appeal to people like him, and says that he wants to start by seeing what the appetite is for the website.
Sam is also open to feedback and suggestions about how to make CBR Wine Hunter better, so he can continue to support and uplift the Canberra wine region.
“The Canberra wine industry has come so far over the past 20 years. We’re at a point now where there are Canberra wines that are talked about outside of the Canberra region,” he says.
“If this can help drive traffic to the winemakers or support the industry, I think that’s a win for Canberra, and I’m happy to play a role in that.”
For more information, visit cbrwines.com.
