BEER: Modus Operandi Future Factory IIIPA Here's a beer that questions just how much is 'too much', the Modus Operandi Future Factory IIIPA. Released on Friday, this hazy 10% alcohol triple IPA may as well have frankenbeer …
It's been fascinating to watch the revival of the big Burgundian negociants. Historically, names like Faiveley, Chanson and Louis Jadot have been treated with a certain disdain here in Australia, tagged as 'just negociant wines'. That's likely …
Welcome to tranche 2 of the #MonthofAndrew wines. I probably haven't hit the cellar as hard this birthday with the imminent baby arrival (just over two weeks until due date), but this collection - opened at …
It's my birthday this week, and rather than just confine it to a single day I like to stretch out celebrations for a good 3 weeks - the #monthofAndrew. That sounds indulgent, but really it's just …
I missed December's Almost Club edition (holidays), so this is a huge crop of almostness... As the name suggests, here are the wines that almost hit the mark for me in January. Some are just nice …
The premise with this collection is very very simple - I've been hitting the sample pile hard over the past week or two, and these 30 wines were not only the most quintessentially smashable Australian …
With the official Graham HQ Chief Chardonnay Drinker 34 weeks pregnant, I'm not opening up as much Chardonnay as normal (outside of tasting lineups). The flip side is that I'm probably drinking more beer than ever …
Benchmarks matter. Especially for wine. And on Saturday night, despite a few too many IPA warm up beers, I managed a peek at the latest vintage of a Marlborough icon - the 2018 Cloudy Bay …
Happy New Year! I'm celebrating the start of 2019 with a little tasting note house cleaning, how about you? Actually I'm mainly at the beach. Before we crack out the towels for today, here are 15 …
At this time of year everyone tends to look backwards and think about the year gone. What were the good bits? Who made great wines? Who released a dumb, overpriced $180 red? Etc etc. But I'm …
Firstly, apologies for the little number of recent posts. More beaching, less writing for me this Christmas (not a bad thing at all). Today, I'm too sunburnt for the beach, so instead I'm attacking the …
Christmas is my favourite time of year. The smell of gardenias. The sun. The green grass. The promise of holidays. It's so good. This time of year is also perfect for opening lots of wines. I …
I'm still working out what to drink on Christmas day. I've got most of the usual boxes ticked - Primo Joseph sparkling red, '12 Giaconda Chardonnay maybe and a stray bottle of Pra Monte Grande that …
Daosa Natural Reserve NV Enter the new sparkling wine from Xavier Bizot and Lucy Croser. While I'm not sure about the 'Natural Reserve' tagline - it feels more like a stab at the natural wine movement than …
I'm loving the new age of Australian light reds. Meunier, Gamay, Pinot Meunier, Trousseau. Nouveau styles. Joven styles. It's like suddenly our collective industry woke up one day and realised that not everything needs to …
It's been a long month here at Graham HQ, and the next few weeks promise to be just as intense. I can't wait for that glorious period in between Christmas and New Year where life …
I love great Viognier. Textural, viscous, rich, barrel matured Viognier is absolutely delicious. But so much V weed is underwhelming, ordinary, and either under or overripe. Too much. Too often. But this Yalumba Y Series Viognier 2018 …
Last month I was pondering why we don't drink more half bottles. If you need an answer about what might be next for wine packaging (that's not half bottles), then look no further than the …
For this week's entertainment, I thought I'd pull out all the Shiraz dominant blends that aren't your usual suspects and ended up with these six wines. Some are just slightly unconventional (like non GSM from Grant …
On Thursday, a squad of Hunter Valley winemakers came to Sydney to show off some new releases at the new Brix Distillery. While I couldn't hang around and drink beer with the lads, they had in …
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.