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 …
Two very different Australian icons: 1999 Tyrrell's Vat 1 Semillon and 2008 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz 2008 Last night was the National Liquor News tasting panel Christmas party and, as befitting a good Christmas party, some …
Keeping Mum on Mumm This is a snippet from a recent column on Mumm Champagne. The language is a bit different to the rest of the articles here on the blog, however the context is interesting …
Jim Barry: Verticals of Florita, Armagh + McRae Wood 'We made our first (Armagh) when Sam was in my underpants' That's Peter Barry, current Jim Barry Wines GM and Barry family patriarch, in typically blunt form. Think …
Charles Heidsieck - my new favourite NV Champagne That title is a bit of a misnomer actually. The Charles Heidsieck 'standard' NV is not actually all that new to me. Indeed, 10 years ago the Charles …
Quintarelli Rosso del Bepi 1999 (Veneto, Italy)15%, Cork, $270+Source: Dinner companion I tried this wine just weeks after that fateful first encounter with a Quintarelli. As a result, when this lobbed on the table I …
Champagne: 30 tasted I was struggling for inspiration tonight and so, instead of just writing something half-heartedly, decided to attack the pile of papers here on my 'work desk'. Whilst the tidying, rearranging and such didn't …
Mumm Cuvee LalouBlingworthy Mumm Cuvée R.Lalou 1999 (Champagne, France) Cork, $360 Source: Had a glass from someone else's bottle www.ghmumm.com Some sexy packaging on this - very classy. The fruit sourcing is high class too, with grapes from eight grand …
Old Maurice would be proud... A mini Hunter Shiraz vertical I'm a little tardy in writing up these notes, but the following Hunter Shiraz vertical was held in Sydney a few months back. As you can see …
Bollinger - a quick snapshot of the range 100 years of Bollinger Special Cuvée I like Bollinger. I like their uncompromised winemaking approach and I like their understated marketing. No flashy Moët-esque packaging either, just class. In fact, the …
3 faces of the Grampians With an unbroken wine history dating back to 1862, the Grampians has no shortage of vinous kudos. Yet, as a wine region it's in something of a state of flux, with a winemakers association …
Pol Roger Vintage 1999 (Champagne, France)$85, Cork, 12.5%Source: Retailhttp://www.polroger.com/What a dissapointment.I was (very) lucky to drink quite a bit of the 1998 vintage of this very wine, including emptying a bottle or three on a …
Tasted recently over dinner at Rubyo's in Newtown (Sydney), this vertical tasting reminded, quite simply, why this wine is considered to be one of Australia's best (and we didn't even get started on the more …
Pol Roger Champagne 1999 (Champagne, France)Cork, $110The 98 version of this defied the vintage trend & produced something special. It was quite a rich, forward style, but the quality was top notch. I loved that …
Raveneau - Easily the most famous Chablis estate, with highly sought after (and hence highly priced) wines of the utmost sophistication that clearly reflect the terroir of Chablis.The Premier Cru 'Montee de Tonnerre' is located …
From an excellent vintage in Margaret River, this probably should have come up better than it did.This has been stored from release in my previous natural cellar - dark, free from vibration, good humidity, but …
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.