In 1986, at the age of 16, he helped plant the first vines of what was a new project in Coldstream, in the Yarra Valley.

“I was here working in the vineyard, which at the time was a new development; it was a building site and all we knew was that French people with big ambitions were involved,” he said in an interview with Rete Italia.

“I had no idea I’d be back here 35 years later as the head winemaker.”

It seems Buckle’s fate was predetermined, despite some initial resistance.

Growing up on his father’s vineyard, on the Mornington Peninsula, Buckle was always immersed in the world of wine and used to pick up summer jobs in the industry, gaining further experience and knowledge.

After high school, however, instead of following in his father’s footsteps, he enrolled in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne and began working in the hospitality sector to fund his passion for travel.

During this time, he developed a greater interest in wine, becoming a sommelier.

“When I finished my Arts degree, my now wife, Nicole, said: ‘Why don’t you go and study winemaking?’,” Buckle recounted.

“I went to Charles Sturt University in NSW; it was the mid-1990s and a really good time to be starting a career in wine.

“I did two years full-time and then finished my degree part-time while working.”

Upon his return to the Yarra Valley, Buckle was hired by Coldstream Hills Cellar Door, founded by Australia’s leading wine writer, James Halliday.

“[James] was doing all of his writing from the vineyard,” Buckle said.

“Every day after work, he’d want to open 40, 50 or 60 bottles to taste for his book.

“Back then we had corks, so opening a bottle was a bit of a job; we’d help James open the bottles and pour the tastings for him.

“If we were quick we could have a taste ourselves, and sometimes we’d get some wisdom... then we’d take all the wine home.

“That was a really great couple of years tasting all of Australia’s wine.”

But Buckle’s story extends far beyond our borders.

“I very luckily won a scholarship to go for a vintage in Bordeaux [in France], and as a farewell dinner, James invited us to his house,” Buckle recounted.

“He opened some incredible wine that night; we had Krug, Domaine Leflaive White Burgundy and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche... I’d never had Pinot Noir of that quality before and that completely changed my life.”

In 1999, Buckle began working for Yering Station Winery, also in the Yarra Valley, which had a joint venture making sparkling wine at Yarrabank, with Champagne Devaux.

“I went to Devaux for nine weeks to help with the harvest and learn about the blending,” Buckle said.

Having been around the world and back, Buckle began working at Domaine Chandon in 2012.

A view of the elegant interior at Domaine Chandon. (Photo supplied)

The prestigious winery specialises in méthode traditionnelle sparkling wines, which have a different production process from still wine.

“Making sparkling wine is a lot slower and a little bit more detailed in the tasting; you have to have some experience and it’s very hard to teach,” Buckle explained.

“With the traditional method, we make the wine and we blend the wine and it’s really young and tight and acidic – not very nice to drink – and then we do the second fermentation and lay the bottle down in the cellar for two to eight years.

“When it comes out, there’s this transformation; understanding that transformation is very difficult.

“We have a laboratory here and we measure everything we can but there’s the inevitable part where you need to use your intuition and experience.”

At Domaine Chandon, Buckle has found that level of freedom that he lacked in Europe, where the various regional and European regulations do not allow for variations.

“Downstairs we have a Pinot Gris Cuvée and we have a sparkling red wine, which is a Pinot Noir Shiraz blend,” he said.

“We have a long tradition in Australia of making sparkling red wines.

“It takes a long time to gain experience with sparkling wine; I feel like the first five years I was just getting going.

“I’m enjoying what I’m doing and I think I’ll stay here for a long time.”