Alexandria, New South Wales

Inspired by his childhood visits to Bellata in north-central New South Wales, Kerry Connole began selling wholesale sourdough bread in Sydney in 2001. In a loaf of Sonoma sourdough there’s freshly-milled sustainable flour, filtered water, sourdough starter and sea salt. Every loaf is hand-shaped before being placed in a cloth-lined banneton or wrapped in Belgian linen called ‘couche’. The loaves are left to cold ferment for 12-16 hours before their bakers individually score each one with a specialised tool known as a ‘lame’. Finally the loaves are baked on the stone hearth of the oven.