It seems like a big jump to go from jewellery valuer to Barossa winemaker. But that's the route Michael Hall's life has followed. From a childhood in the UK to the 'rarefied air' of record breaking …
Oh yes, this is a big edition! As the name suggests, these are the 34 wines that almost made the Australian Wine Review top grade (of 17/20 or 90/100+) this month. Some missed the mark by a …
Sometimes, you get what you pay for. In the wine industry it doesn't happen as often as you'd like, but occasionally you pay for great wine and really get it. With these new single vineyard Shaw + …
Obviously it's July now (not June), but I did a quick trawl through the tasting book today and it revealed an interesting stat - Riesling, Chardonnay and Semillon make up the bulk of the white …
I love it when interesting new wines from unknown wineries (to me at least) turn up at the door. It's like wine Christmas. Brackenwood is a vineyard at Kuitpo in the Adelaide Hills owned by ex-somm …
From great value quaffers to absolute train wrecks, this month's compilation of 'almost' wines is a biggun'. I'm always conscious of my prejudice against overripeness and heavy-handed oak, but I call both as symptoms of poor …
For the final post in my 'wines that moved me in April' series comes this final collection - that I'm calling the 'better reds that aren't Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz or Pinot Noir'. As a primer, check …
Following on from my Cabernet compilation on Monday, let me introduce you to the Shiraz/Syrah selection. Twenty of the better Shiraz to pass the desk in April, all in one handy place. I particularly like the diversity …
It's 3 days late I know, but here are a few wines that almost hit the mark this month. Some are just good, simple drinks. Others are genuinely average to poor... Hand Crafted Montepulciano 2016 From Geoff …
Australian Montepulciano shouldn't be this good, surely? That was going through my brain when I tasted the Amadio Heritage Selection Kersbrook Montepulciano 2014. Here, you're looking at a ripe and plush, Australian take on the red grape …
There is no reason why this tasting should be so bad. Yet every year I line up a collection of textural white wines and every year it's disappointing. Except that this lineup didn't suck at all. …
Here are a few of the wines that have passed the desk this month and almost made the grade. Some weren't far off the mark, others are absolute disasters. A few big disappointments of note: The …
Following on from the Chardonnay and Riesling hits of the summer, it's only fair that the other most popular grape at Graham HQ get's a post too. Below then is a list of the 22 Pinot …
The title is pretty explanatory - here are 24 Chardies that hit the mark over the past few weeks, plus a few that almost made it but fell short. The Hits Bay of Fires Chardonnay 2016 What a …
If you're a wine producer with a high profile, decidedly serious top end label, what happens when you want to make something a big more fun and less serious? For Shaw & Smith, the answer was …
It's not been a great few months. What I thought was a routine running overuse injury has turned out to be an arthritis flare up - my first in 15 years. By itself, that's been dragging …
As you can see the volume of posts has dropped off a bit lately as I'm still not feeling great. My ankle issues turned out to be an arthritis flare up, and the last few …
This is the year to be getting into (or back into) Australian Riesling. I hate broad vintage generalisations in Australia (which is too massive and varied for any sort of generalisation to hold), but for many …
Life is so much easier when you have a great vineyard. That's not to say that winemaking is easy, in any way. But it certainly helps when you start with the best materials. Further, when you …
Here's a selection of wines that were almost great. Some are just good, solid wines that are occasionally unready, through to slightly underwhelming/unexciting, and rounded out with a few wines that miss the mark completely. Why post …
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.