Not all wines can be great. Plenty are just ok drinks. And some are just bad. Here’s a selection of wines that almost made it in October 2019. I like plenty …
Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon. The icon. A blue-chip Australian red with a history of glory spanning back decades to the beginning of Margaret River wine. Or at least that's the pitch. …
Oakridge 864 Funder & Diamond Chardonnay 2017 The Oakridge 864 Funder & Diamond Chardonnay 2017 was announced as the winner of the James Halliday Chardonnay Challenge last week, and by sheer …
Tapanappa Definitus Pinot Noir 2017Pinot Noir is elegant and pretty, while Cabernet Sauvignon is firm and robust. Or at least that was my generalisation when first venturing into wine. Pinot makes …
Torzi Matthews 1903 Old Vines Grenache Shiraz Mataro 2017 Today is Grenache Day, and while I hate grape days (there's now a Lambrusco Day and a Carignan Day FYI), I'm a …
Longview Nebbiolo Saturnus 2017So much of our contemporary Nebbiolo benchmarks are based on Barolo and Barbaresco. Much like Pinot Noir to Burgundy or Assyrtiko to Santorini, this is what we …
This month, it's all about Pinot Noir here at Graham HQ, just because we like drinking it. And you'd have to argue that the best Pinot Noir in Australia almost …
Sholto Syrah 2017 Wine's most amazing trick is to take you back to a time and place. One sniff of this Shiraz and I'm back in my garage in 2010, crouching …
Sure, Shiraz gets all the attention, but for my money, Australia's most consistently drinkable premium variety is Chardonnay. That's simply a result of style. So much top tier Australian Shiraz - …
In what has become something of a tradition (posts here, here, here, here and here for starters), I went to this year's 2019 Sydney Royal Wine Show exhibitor event tasting …
I love textured white wines. Alsace field blends? Gimme. Barrel fermented Margaret River Sauv? Yes please. But every year, the 'textural white' segment disappoints. I get that it's a balancing act to …
It's been a rough week or so at Graham HQ, as a sniffly 5 month old meant little sleep and not enough wine... So let's keep this tight. As the name …
Not all wines can be great. Plenty are just ok drinks. And some are just bad… Here’s a selection of wines that almost made it in July 2019. I like plenty …
Juniper Estate Chardonnay 2017 Here's a Margaret River winery with a decidedly quieter profile than the usual suspects (Cape Mentelle, Cullen, Voyager, Leeuwin, Moss Wood, Vasse Felix etc) but delivering genuine, …
Brothers at War I’m Always Right Eden Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 Another well-weighted release from the Wardlaw brothers. From a vineyard at 390m outside of Eden Valley. it’s a really quite …
Chateau Tanunda 150 year old Vines Semillon 2017 Barossa Semillon is such a particular taste. An oddity that must be achingly hard to sell - even harder than Hunter Semillon - …
Here's a wine that I know will brighten up a dour pub list. The Wirra Wirra Church Block 2017 is another reminder that making good $25 wine isn't hard. You …
Opawa Pinot Noir 2017 Marlborough Pinot from the Nautilus empire - easy attraction here and well priced. It's a little lean, complete with a dash of mint. But that's part of …
Millon Estate The Royal GSM 2017 Every time I see Millon Estate I write Million Estate.... This is a tick up on the Shiraz, if also a little syrupy. 12 months …
Ubertas Shiraz Cabernet 2017 A new name for me, and plenty of promise. Ubertas is the label of the brothers Kevin and Phil Liu who bought a vineyard at Nurioopta. This …
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, 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.
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.