I've never been to Alsace. Like Corsica, It is a missing page in my French wine region passport. I've got as far as Neuchâtel, circa 2hrs south, but Gamaret plots …
In the same vein as the superb Cabernet comes this commanding Balgownie Estate Old Vine Shiraz 2015. Much like the Cab too, this comes from 12 rows of the oldest plantings …
Age will not weary this Barossan red. Released with bottle age, and it needs it, this is as much an expression of Yalumba as anything else. Moderated alcohol, heartiness, tannins, …
I'd rather drink beer than most cheap Australian sparkling wines. Or Riesling. But there's a small cohort of bubbles worth consideration. This Taltarni Brut 2015 is one of them. In fact, …
Balgownie turned 50 in 2019 and to celebrate, there was this special bottling of Balgownie Estate Old Vine Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, drawn off the original 1969 plantings. Most winemakers might …
Not all wines can be great. Plenty are just ok drinks. And some are just bad. Here is a selection of wines that almost made it in May and June 2021. We're …
So many luxury wines end up as disappointments. Too often, wines with AUD$100+ pricetags and unfettered ambitions turn out to be bulldust and oak tannins. Wines that speak of ego, of …
14% alcohol. It's a mark in the sand. One of those (unconscious) ripeness expectations, where anything north of 14% is going to have ripe fruit (in table wine) with minimal …
To celebrate 30 years of Meerea Park Wines, Garth & Rhys Eather went out to lunch. Except they spent this milestone meal with about 15 other wine media types, and repeated …
I haven't been tasting as much this week after Miss 2 brought home a virus from daycare and took out the whole house like a rogue wave at a Nippers …
During long runs, when my internal monologue is the main thing to keep me company, I wonder about questions liks this. Why do people fawn over aged reds, when there is …
This Clover Hill Cuvée Exceptonelle Brut Rosé 2015 is really well done Australian fizz. Not as glorious as the non rosé bubbles, perhaps, but still very good. Importantly, it's tight and …
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 …
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 …
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 the environment.
Twenty one years later and I spend my days wearing many (wine) hats, mostly as a writer, presenter and marketer. and judge at wine shows around the world...Read more