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 …
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.