The premise with this collection is very very simple - I've been hitting the sample pile hard over the past week or two, and these 30 wines were not only the most quintessentially smashable Australian …
With the official Graham HQ Chief Chardonnay Drinker 34 weeks pregnant, I'm not opening up as much Chardonnay as normal (outside of tasting lineups). The flip side is that I'm probably drinking more beer than ever …
Daosa Natural Reserve NV Enter the new sparkling wine from Xavier Bizot and Lucy Croser. While I'm not sure about the 'Natural Reserve' tagline - it feels more like a stab at the natural wine movement than …
As you might have noticed, I'm on the Adelaide Hills train this week, covering off a small collection of regional new releases. I really love Adelaide Hills Chardonnay, and there was two delights in this …
Mylkappa Wines Pinot Noir Rosè 2017 A new name to me but with plenty of interest. Mylkappa is a small Adelaide Hills vineyard at Birdwood that has largely grown fruit for other producers, only recently turning …
Tapanappa Tiers 1.5m Chardonnay 2017 Another great Tapanappa Chardonnay. Sourced from a block of close-planted vines planted in 2003 on the Tiers property, this is quite a contrast to the more linear Tiers (which still has …
Shaw + Smith M3 Chardonnay 2016 Richer vintage for the classic Shaw + Smith M3 style but it doesn’t lose shape. Lemon butter and apple juice meets toasty oak, the finish still shaped by grapefruit but …
Shaw + Smith Pinot Noir 2017 I'm happy to be proven wrong (and Ashton Hills does it regularly), but I still don't see Adelaide Hills as a prime Pinot Noir region. Good wines, yes, but not …
Shaw + Smith Sauvignon Blanc 2018 It's easy to bash Australian Sauv, but here's what it should taste like - especially in 2018. Super fresh and vibrant nose with grapefruit, melon and cut grass. The juicy palate …
Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay 2017 This is the effectively the 3rd wine in the Tapanappa Chardonnay range but it's hardly a 3rd wine in quality. Actually, it’s a surprisingly ripe style with a whisper of honeycomb and …
Terre à Terre Summertown Reserve Pinot Noir 2017 I'm torn. This is so polished and ripe and has a real Pinosity - but is it just a bit too much of a serious dry red rather …
Petaluma B & V Vineyard Shiraz 2015 Petaluma's premium single vineyard Shiraz and it's almost a star. From the B + V Vineyard on the eastern side of the Adelaide Hills, this sees 72% new oak …
Terre à Terre Rosè 2017 Sparkling wine without the bubbles. That's the mode here, with this Piccadilly Valley pink from Xavier Bizot & Lucy Croser. A blend of 56% Pinot Noir and 46% Chardonnay fruit handpicked …
Wirra Wirra The 12th Man Chardonnay 2017 Wirra Wirra's Adelaide Hills Chardonnay always packs in some class, with layers of flavour. This '17 vintage feels like a work in progress, but the elements are there. At …
Longview Devil’s Elbow Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 Always plenty of flavour in these Longview reds, with Nebbiolo the standout variety. This Cabernet packs in plenty of punch, but I'm not sure the minty tannins work. It's not …
From near misses to faulty junk. Here is a collection of the wines that almost won me over in October 2018. A special, frustrating mention to the two Leasingham wines. I grew up worshipping the mid …
This edition of the Almost Club is a few days late as I was busily not doing much in Noosa (photo attached. We love Noosa). Here than are 20 wines that almost hit the mark in …
Wine shows cop a lot of flack. You need only read the feedback to my post on the 2018 Sydney Royal Wine Show exhibitors tasting to see that. But is it justified? And indeed do …
From solid drinks to faulty train wrecks (and everything in between), the Almost Club is for wines that didn't hit the Australian Wine Review 'recommended' mark (17/20, 90/100) in August 2018. Note that there is friendly …
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.