More birthday wines (2021 edition)
February 17, 2021
This is where I was for the past week: Well, not right there, but just a few clicks off to the right on the beautiful NSW South Coast. Would you look …
Review: Oakridge Local Vineyard Series Blanc de Blancs 2015
February 4, 2021
Serious Yarra fizz is this Oakridge Local Vineyard Series Blanc de Blancs 2015. Spends 52 months on lees, the juice wild fermented in tank and cask. Classy, full-tilt, table-wine-with-bubbles style (which …
Review: Zema Estate Family Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
December 22, 2020
I wish these Zema wines were just a little less overt. More elegance, tone down the oak and alcohol. This Zema Estate Family Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, for instance, is …
Top 20 best Shiraz of November 2020
December 3, 2020
Fun fact: Shiraz makes up over 25% of all winegrapes crushed in Australia, and South Australia has the largest vineyard area with 76,292ha (Wine Australia figures 19/20). But what I want …
Review: Fuedo Arancio Riserva 2015
November 17, 2020
Solid Sicilian Nero is this Fuedo Arancio Riserva 2015. Tarry, yet comfortably mid-weight, Sicilian Nero with this concentrated black core. It's like dried blackcurrants and it helps the mid palate …
The Top 20 Shiraz of August 2020
August 28, 2020
As the name suggests, these are the Top 20 Shiraz of August 2020. There was more Shiraz this month, there always is. But these are the wines I want to …
Review: Yalumba The Cigar Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
July 27, 2020
Second in line behind The Menzies in Yalumba's Coonawarra Cabernet hierarchy and it's a long term style. Set and forget form, with drying tannins as the centre feature. Oh and …
The Almost Club Lockdown edition: 68 wines that almost made it over the past 3 months
July 8, 2020
Not all wines can be great. Plenty are just ok drinks. And some are just bad. Here then is a selection of wines that almost made it over the past few …
Review: Kate Hill Pinot Noir 2015
July 1, 2020
A new Tasmanian name and you can feel/taste the promise. To have a wine in shape like this after five years? Attention grabbed. Sourced from a plot in the Upper Derwent, …
Review: Yalumba Tri-Centenary Grenache 2015. Just right.
July 1, 2020
What a joy these Yalumba Grenache wines are. Pure celebrations of old vines, and complemented by winemaking that is deliberately understated. Well fucking done. This Yalumba Tri-Centenary Grenache 2015 is the top …
Review: d’Arenberg The Laughing Magpie Shiraz Viognier 2015
May 4, 2020
Why would you blend Viognier with Shiraz in McLaren Vale? It's not like the Mistral-chilled hillsides of the northern Rhone, where you need the Viognier to add flesh to bony, …
Review: Meerea Park Terracotta Semillon 2015
April 27, 2020
Hunter Valley Semillon, but in a Riesling bottle. Blasphemous, maybe, but do you really care? Will it stop you from buying this Meerea Park Terracotta Semillon 2015? My take - I …
The Tiers vineyard turns 40. Here is a whole lotta Chardonnay to celebrate
March 10, 2020
I'm in cleanup mode at the moment, sifting through the (physical) sample pile and my (digital) notes to tidy things up Kondo-style. While it's cathartic to delete some half-baked stories written …
Tasting the 2020 Sydney International Wine Competition trophy winners
February 11, 2020
In what has become a semi-annual event, I ventured out into the Armageddon-esque sideways rain on Saturday to taste the trophy winners (and more) from the Sydney International Wine Competition. You're …
Glorious Germans: A celebration of VDP with much great Riesling
December 4, 2019
You need to be drinking more German wines. For so long now, Germany has been known for Riesling. Riesling (50% of world production) and Henkell Trocken. But here's one country - …
10 of the best cellaring reds to pass the desk this November – feat. Oakridge, Craggy Range, Eldorado Road etc
November 19, 2019
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 …
Why drink industrial NV Champagne when you have Adelaide Hills sparkling like this?
November 4, 2019
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 …
11-44 of October 2019’s best Shiraz
October 22, 2019
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 …
Top 10 Shiraz of October 2019 – Thomas Wines, Balgownie, Shaw + Smith et al.
October 21, 2019
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 …
The Masterson masterstroke? An inside look at the new $2,000 Peter Lehmann megawine
September 30, 2019
'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 …
About me – Andrew Graham
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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
