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 …
Brothers at War The Old Man Eden Valley Syrah 2017 Another well balanced release from Angus & Sam Wardlaw and well priced. This is sourced from their Pendee Farm vineyard just …
Two Hands Gnarly Dudes Shiraz 2017 I always like the Two Hands packaging. Proprietary bottle and cool names. This is agreeable Shiraz too - a plump Barossa red in a classic …
Barossa Valley Wine Company Gravel Track Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre 2017 The Mataro/Mourvedre contrast goes on. I've seen it called either in either region now. Mataro is more Australian for mine. Anyway, …
There are few more blue chip names in Australian wine than Steve Pannell (aka S.C. Pannell). Son of Moss Wood founders Bill and Sandra Pannell, Steve is the only winemaker in …
Not all wines can be great. In fact plenty are just ok drinks. And some are just bad... Here's a selection of wines that didn't quite excite me in May. Several …
On Saturday, the (newly expanded) Team Graham made it to Brokenwood's annual Graveyard lunch. There was 3 outfit changes (after multiple poonamis), and we were the only ones there with …
It's new release season in the wine industry, which means that I came home to a small mountain of samples to pickup from the post office. But this is new …
I'm on a bit of a McLaren Vale run at the moment, even if it was unintentional. Actually, maybe it's not - if I was forced to pick a specialisation, …
I'm steadily making a dent in the sample pile at the moment, after getting massively behind after my little one was born. She's 8 weeks old now (and beautiful, in my …
Livewire Pinot Noir 2017Livewire is the label of Anthony Brain, who must get dumb jokes about his last name all the time. Meanwhile, I end up with 'Hi Graham' (got …
Let's check in with some recent Shiraz and Semillon releases from the Hunter Valley (and beyond). A pleasure to see more experimentation with traditional Hunter styles too. Making the same wine …
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.