The cost of silence: Mental health in the wine industry

My father has always held a rather cynical view of society, one I’ve partly inherited. Whenever new laws or systems are implemented following a preventable death, his response is the same: “We always need to claim a victim before doing something to change the course of things.”

The tragic death of Peter Fraser, chief winemaker at Yangarra in McLaren Vale, late last year sent shockwaves across the global wine industry. This isn’t to diminish the loss of others beloved figures in wine and hospitality, some of whom I knew and worked with, but Peter’s prominence was impossible to ignore. The industry has begun to respond.

Stephen Pannell of S.C. Pannell Wines, a close McLaren Vale winemaking colleague and friend of Pete’s, was one of the first to say, “enough is enough”.

“I’m now going to friends who I know are holding things in, and saying, ‘I know there is something going on with you. Talk to me’. I’m not going to pussyfoot around anymore,” he says, referring to his friendship with Pete and their professional bond, which he describes as “each other’s muse”.

For Stephen, speaking about his own struggles is part of an effort to shift that culture. “I suppose this comes from 30 years of counselling and several diagnoses,” he says. The support of his wife and children has been grounding; still, he’s aware not everyone has that. “Now I try to help people. I’d like to raise some money.” At the time of our conversation in January, grief was still present, yet he chose to speak openly. “I’m getting better at talking about this stuff. In the end, male friendships are so important, but so fucking rare.”

Stephen is not the only one to call it as it is. Dan Eggleton, of Ben Murray Wines in the Barossa, is lamenting that disconnection in the Australian wine industry doesn’t help mental wellbeing – including his own.

He started a monthly mateship breakfast in the Barossa after another suicide in the grape-growing community. “When I was learning the trade, there was an embrace from the older generation to share the knowledge and pass it to the younger one. If I had a question, I had no hesitation to ask; and that helped me progress. But this isn't the welcoming industry it was 25 years ago.”

He points to corporate growth as having sanitised the “characters” out of the industry. As a third-generation grape grower and self-taught winemaker, Dan has worked to make the mateship breakfasts as friendly and inclusive as possible, guided by a mantra of standing up for his industry – something he has carried with him since being challenged by Peggy, the late Carl Lindner’s wife, to fight for his wine community.

“While I focus on the grassroots, we have also welcomed CEOs and business owners,” stresses Dan. Held on the last Friday of each month at Ben Murray Wines from 8am to 10am, and supported by Foundation Barossa, the breakfasts are intentionally informal.

Far from the spotlight of winemaking, an often forgotten yet vital figure, the viticulturist, has been dealing with mental health battles for a long time – in silence. Steven Faulkner, viticulturist at Yarra Valley’s Oakridge Wines and founder of Viticulture Australia, which took out the 2025 Wine Communicators of Australia award for Best Social Communication, thought that: “If no one else will tell our stories, we will do it ourselves.”

Viticulture Australia was conceived the same night Steven had to say goodbye to his dying mother during Covid via FaceTime, on 26 August 2020. Thinking back now, he believes it was a distraction from what was happening. “How it began is quite personal,” he says. “Yet, what Viticulture Australia has achieved… everyone involved should be so proud. Volunteers donate their time and effort to help our profession.”

Pick-me-up presents for those who need a reminder that they are not alone nor forgotten, an Instagram account with over 6000 followers, and an expanding community network of viticulturists of every age and provenance are some of the many things offered.

“We have an admin group, which also manages the fundraising. Our ‘viti bios’ are encouraging to others. Sharing stories is a great way for people to feel seen, even if they work in the middle of nowhere. We want to drag viticulturists out of their shell, give them a bit more confidence.”

A similar idea underpins Rootlings, a national network for wine professionals aged 35 and under, today funded by Wine Australia through the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology.

In just three years, the concept has grown from an idea by grape grower/winemaker Maggie Jarrett to connect young people within the NSW wine industry to, with support from the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and NSW Wine, a successful nation-wide scheme.

Although the networking is informal, each event is nevertheless structured and specifically tailored to the needs of millennials and Gen Z, intended to assist them in their careers and offer development opportunities.

“Today we have 630 young people signed up,” says Jenna-Rose Vaughan, Rootlings National Project Officer. “The hardest thing when you're going through mental health struggles, and this comes from me having suffered through postnatal depression and anxiety twice, is asking for help. What was always helpful in my journey – and I see that reflected in Rootlings – is having people around you who can spot the signs and give you the assistance you need.”

As an Italian in Australia, I’ve struggled to find that sense of village. Dan Eggleton understands it instinctively. “You Italians meet in the piazza. You talk, disagree, and leave thinking, ‘I needed that conversation’.”

Hospitality, while slow to change, has begun to confront mental health more directly. Part of this story is personal. Last year, my friend, Finley* – a respected and experienced Melbourne sommelier – reached out with a simple request: “Can we talk?”

Over coffee, he opened up about his personal and professional life, while navigating a diagnosis of ADHD and being on the spectrum, placing him in a high-risk category. My first question was: “How do you go with that, working in fine-dining restaurants?”

“I knew I could still do my job,” he says, “but I needed clearer boundaries and greater flexibility.”

Honesty in hospitality can be complicated. Customer-facing environments like restaurants require you to show up with a smile and push through, even if your entire world is crumbling around you. This can have a significant impact on mental health.

Still, he wants his experience to help others. “Hospitality is an incredible industry,” Finley says. “The variety of experiences, the creativity, the energy and the people.” He stresses that many roles are well-suited to neurodivergent people, although challenges remain.

“Small businesses often lack the structure, resources and support systems that larger organisations can provide. I think more education is needed on both sides – employers and employees – to build understanding rather than fear.”

Organisations such as Perth-based registered charity Healthy Mind Menu, and company Allara Global are trying to address that gap.

Healthy Mind Menu was co-founded in 2018 by businessman Wayne Theo; hotel, tourism and hospitality leader and board member of Tourism Australia, Bradley Woods; and corporate psychologist and head of mental health at Mineral Resources Limited, Dr. Chris Harris, after the suicide of a young local chef and wider concern over industry mental health, including the deaths of figures like Anthony Bourdain.

“While managing and operating fashion labels,” says Wayne, “I learned that people are very tribal or community driven. People feel more comfortable within their tribe.”

Another thing that emerged, particularly from the extensive therapy work with miners conducted by Chris, was that men generally don’t acknowledge their struggles or access support as much as women. “Similar to the mining sector, with long hours, a lot of time away from the family, and sleep deprivation, chefs and hospitality workers go through the same challenges. If males feel like they've let people down or they haven't provided for their family, this sits with them.”

What Chris also realised, following a three-year research project called The Young Men’s Project, was that it’s not that men aren’t willing to seek help or open up about their struggles – it’s that the language used around it doesn’t work.

“They would often say to me, ‘We do want to talk about this, Chris, but we want to talk about it differently to females’.”

Professor Jane Burns, chief strategy and growth officer at Allara Learning, sister company of Allara Global, reinforces that reframing the language around mental wellbeing can greatly help reduce stigma and increase active participation.

“My background has been in suicide prevention, and it started back when we did the start-up of Beyond Blue in 2000. I come from a positive prevention framework, which says if you can build people's strengths and capacity, they're going to be much better able to bounce back from adversity, no matter what that adversity looks like.” For Jane, it is more about how to build mental fitness.

While Healthy Mind Menu is primarily focused on Western Australia, with plans to expand nationally, its website is accessible to all, offering a mix of free online courses and paid programs, including Wellbeing in Hospo for Leaders. More recently, it has introduced a membership and recognition program aimed at helping businesses put mental wellbeing resources into practice.

Allara Global and Allara Learning, by contrast, tailor online training, workshops, qualifications and onboarding, while also assisting with legal obligations and improving operations across HORECA venues of all sizes and locations. Their offerings include accredited onboarding modules covering bullying, harassment and psychological safety in the workplace, among other areas.

As Allara CEO Andrew Lewis clarifies, the more specific modules were developed later, following a customer request years ago, when the behind the scenes were “much murkier” than it appears today. They were designed to accommodate the demanding and varied schedules of hospitality workers.

Prevention, Jane and Chris both argue, must sit alongside crisis response. Harris believes suicide could become preventable within a generation or two, similar to deaths linked to tobacco. But prevention still depends on listening as much as speaking.

As this story closes, I’m aware it is only one of many in wine and hospitality. These conversations are not easy but avoiding them does not make them disappear. And if that means we must wear our hearts on our sleeves, so be it.

In memory of Laylah and Simon.

*Name has been changed.