Yangarra Shiraz 2016 Astounding to think this is the 'entry level' Yangarra Shiraz. Pete 'Midas' Fraser is all over it. Wild ferment and matured in 25% new oak, it's a plush and perfectly weighted wine. Plump, chocolate-gilt …
Vinea Marson Col Fondo Prosecco 2015 More Col Fondo! In Australia! For the uninitiated this is Prosecco made in the traditional method, with a second fermentation in bottle but without a disgorgement. The best Italian Col …
Chapel Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 In my mind this is the archetypal McLaren Vale Cabernet. From a warm year that typically delivered ripeness and power, it's a wine of substantial flavour, oak, tannins - everything. Hearty, …
Mitchell Harris Sabre Rosè 2012 I still haven't been to the Mitchell Harris bar/cellar door in Ballarat and I need to go. There are many places I need to go really, and with a new baby …
The flagship red for Robert Stein and named after the boat that brought the Stein family to Australia in 1838. The Robert Stein Kinnear 2014 is 97% Shiraz and 3% Cabernet representing the ‘best fruit …
A wine to remind that not all Australian Merlot need be boring. Ruckus Estate/Merite Wines are pushing the Q45 clone and giving the grape the love it deserves. This Ruckus Estate the Q Merlot 2015 …
Tucks Ridge now has new owners, with Montalto taking over. This Tucks Ridge Turramurra Chardonnay 2016 is one of the single vineyard releases from Tucks, from the Tuerong/Dromana area. There's a fullness and a broad edge …
Spring. Time to clean out the garage, wash the doona and keep the flowering plants well watered. Or at least that's what we'll be doing at Graham HQ this spring. Also, I've got a massive backlog …
This is Part 2 of the Coleraine vertical described here. Actually, while Coleraine had top billing at the tasting, the vertical of Craggy Range Le Sol Syrah was probably even more intriguing. Le Sol first surged …
Usually, verticals have a purpose. An excuse for the winery to show off a wine, launch a new one, or just to remind everyone how good something used to be. But sometimes, a vertical has …
There isn't much that Stepen Pannell - aka S.C. Pannell - hasn't done. Here's a winemaker that has won a Jimmy Watson Trophy (twice if you count Hardys). Worked for a big company and then gone …
At 18 I started working in a small suburban bottleshop, largely to buy cheap beer. It was my first year of university, doing a degree that I didn't really like, and a liquor shop seemed like fun. Needless to say I discovered wine, my uni degree morphed into something completely different and wine/beer took over my life.
Almost twenty years later and I currently spend my days wearing many (wine) hats, mostly as a writer, presenter and marketer.
While wearing my writer cap I write features for the likes of National Liquor News, Gourmet Traveller WINE and the RAS plus I'm a Lifestyle FOOD channel wine expert. Read more about me here or get in touch to book your next wine event with me here.