Today is Seminar 2 of the 2019 Negociants Working With Wine Program; a biennial wine masterclass series brought to Australia by premier importer and distributor Negociants Australia. This seminar is focused …
I've been digging in the notebook this week and discovered a choice tasting from last year that didn't get a run here on site - the 2018 Voyager Estate Masterclass. For …
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 …
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. …
Chateau d'Yquem 1990-2011: Working With Wine Flight 4 This was the final flight in the 2016 Negociants Working With Wine seminar series and easily the most anticipated. Check out the other …
Taste Champagne Prestige Masterclass Tyson Stelzer's Taste Champagne tastings kicked off in Sydney today, with a large contingent of Champagne producers opening their wares at Sydney's Four Seasons Hotel (Melbourne and Brisbane are …
Carrying on in my series of posts covering my recent visit to Orange (these ones here, here and here), today I'm looking at the wines of Brangayne, the wine business of the Hoskins family. Brangayne, …
The late postcard: Etna Ever arrive home after a holiday and find that you beat your postcards home? Well that's me, except this postcard I never quite got around to sending. Now that …
Yellowglen Exceptional Vintage XV Piccadilly Valley 2002 (Piccadilly Valley, Adelaide Hills, SA) 12%, Cork, $49.99 Source: Sample www.yellowglen.com A rather more evolved beast than its younger brother, I applaud the winemaking merit here, though …
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, …
Delamotte Blanc de Blancs 2002 (Champagne, France) 12.5%, Cork, $135 Source: A glass from someone else's bottlewww.salondelamotte.com The Champagne you're having when you're not having Salon, Delamotte is usually a wine of some …
Leconfield Cabernet - the last 10 years Did you know that the Hamilton family - who founded Leconfield - have been vignerons for 175 years? I didn't. It's an impressive figure …
Obligatory hand picture. Label still looks good too St Hallett Old Block Shiraz 2002 (Barossa, SA)14.5%, Cork Source: Kindly dinner companion www.sthallett.com.au There is no doubting the joy of a wine like this. Drawn …
Dom Oenothèque – the best from ‘the library’ Superb packaing on this special Dom. Have your platinum Amex at the ready sir (I wrote this article a little over a year ago …
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 …
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 …
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 …
The joy of Clape It doesn't happen all that often - although I wish it did - but when it does, it serves as a reminder of exactly how mindblowing the …
New Years Drinks: Moët 2002, Charles Melton Rose of Virgina 2010 One lonely rosé I feels almost dirty choosing to drink Moët on NYE, as I really should be picking something slightly …
Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Vintage 2002 $120 Whilst non vintage Champagne from the bigger houses can be something of a quality gamble, the vintage versions are typically much more predictable. And predictable …
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, so a liquor shop seemed like fun. Needless to say, I discovered wine, and my life evolved with a unique dual focus - wine and environment.
Twenty years later and I spend my days wearing many (wine) hats, mostly as a writer, presenter and marketer.
I now judge at wine shows around the world, sit on the Australian Wine List of the Year awards panel and was once a Wine Journalism Young Gun (but baby that was years ago).
Currently, I write features for a variety of publications including National Liquor News, Gourmet Traveller WINE and the RAS, plus I'm a former Lifestyle FOOD channel wine expert.
In 2019 and 2020 I was voted in the Top 30 Best Wine Critics in The World, and in my spare time, I'm a sucker for punishment and run trail ultra marathons, much to the delight of my long-suffering family. Read more about me here or get in touch to book your next wine event with me here