'71 Grange. '65 Lindemans Hunter Burgundy. Most of the real Maurice O'Shea wines. Penfolds Bin 60a. Australian wine legends, all of them. Old, glorious Aussie reds that, even at forty-plus years …
This is just a taste of the finest big reds that passed the desk this November. Background notes in italics. Oakridge Original Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 Spends 3 weeks on skins post …
Actually, there wasn't really a winner between these two. It was a tie. And what a talking point. This was one of several matchups served over lunch at the 40 year …
If ever I needed a reminder of how bloody big and variable Australia really is, then it came on Saturday morning's flight. Flying out of Sydney and it's hard to miss …
If you have just $50 to spend on a bottle of sparkling, then spend it on one of the glorious Adelaide Hills wines I talked about on Monday. But if you're …
Q: You have $50 to spend on sparkling wine. Do you: a) Buy a bottle of discounted, ‘big house’ NV Champagne? b) Spend the dollars on a premium, likely vintage Australian sparkling? It’s …
Torzi Matthews Schist Rock Shiraz 2018 The second label to the glorious '18 Frost Dodger and is basically the non dried fruit portion and aged in ex-Frost Dodger barrels. What a $25 …
I’ve been thinking about glassware/stemware this week after spotting that some local retailers are now selling Jancis Robinson’s range of glassware. How does an Andrew Graham glassware set sound? Seriously though, it begs …
Why stop at just 10 great Shiraz for the month? Here is the follow on list of the best 11-34 Shiraz to pass the desk in October 2019. Terre à Terre …
As it says on the tin, here are ten of the best Shiraz to pass the tasting bench this October. A special note to the breadth of Hunter Shiraz from …
Always a pleasure to check in one of the benchmarks of Australian wine and the Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2018 is a beauty. This was only a very quick taste as …
(This is a version of a print feature written for National Liquor News earlier in the year. It's worth reprinting here as Prosecco is at an interesting point in Australia. …
Not all wines can be great. Plenty are just ok drinks. And some are just bad. Here’s a selection of wines that almost made it in October 2019. I like plenty …
Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon. The icon. A blue-chip Australian red with a history of glory spanning back decades to the beginning of Margaret River wine. Or at least that's the pitch. …
Oakridge 864 Funder & Diamond Chardonnay 2017 The Oakridge 864 Funder & Diamond Chardonnay 2017 was announced as the winner of the James Halliday Chardonnay Challenge last week, and by sheer …
I’m on holidays at the moment, enjoying some extended beach time in sunny Noosa. In the meantime, I've found out that I'm a finalist in the BWW 2020 -Best Wine of …
'How much is it?'. Peter Lehmann winemaker Nigel Westblade chimes in. 'It's $2,000 a magnum.' Silence. Followed by the sound of furious scribbling. It's rare to completely quieten a pack of typically loud (and …
Tapanappa Definitus Pinot Noir 2017Pinot Noir is elegant and pretty, while Cabernet Sauvignon is firm and robust. Or at least that was my generalisation when first venturing into wine. Pinot makes …
Torzi Matthews 1903 Old Vines Grenache Shiraz Mataro 2017 Today is Grenache Day, and while I hate grape days (there's now a Lambrusco Day and a Carignan Day FYI), I'm a …
Stanton & Killeen Grand Muscat NV Following on from the typically delicous Campbells Muscat comes another fine release - this time from vintage fortified specialists Stanton & Killeen. With Grand Muscat you're …
At 18 I started working in a small suburban bottleshop, largely to buy cheap beer. It was my first year of university, slogging through physics and chemistry, 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.
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.