Reserve - aka more. With this Pike & Joyce W.J.J. Reserve Pinot Noir 2018 it means more oak, more power, more tannins. But more doesn't quite mean more drinking satisfaction …
Martin Shaw & Michael Hill-Smith’s Pinot has had a constant evolution, the style evolving from a robust, dry reddish Pinot to now more medium bodied and with a fruit source …
It feels a little dirty to be writing about wine right now. Or maybe it's a sense of futility - I'm that guy talking about wine while sitting on one …
Chardonnay, like it or not, is still the most important white grape in the country, making up over 45% of all white grapes crushed, and 20% of total grapes crushed, …
I miss eating at restaurants. Ever since our small child came along the ritual of going 'out' to dinner and lingering over a bottle or two (after a warmup beer or …
Here are 24 tasty white and pink wines for your immediate drinking pleasure. Wines that, to my tastes at least, are in the prime of their lives and should be consumed …
This is just a taste of the finest big reds that passed the desk this November. Background notes in italics. Oakridge Original Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 Spends 3 weeks on skins post …
Actually, there wasn't really a winner between these two. It was a tie. And what a talking point. This was one of several matchups served over lunch at the 40 year …
Q: You have $50 to spend on sparkling wine. Do you: a) Buy a bottle of discounted, ‘big house’ NV Champagne? b) Spend the dollars on a premium, likely vintage Australian sparkling? It’s …
Why stop at just 10 great Shiraz for the month? Here is the follow on list of the best 11-34 Shiraz to pass the desk in October 2019. Terre à Terre …
As it says on the tin, here are ten of the best Shiraz to pass the tasting bench this October. A special note to the breadth of Hunter Shiraz from …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Today is Seminar 2 of the 2019 Negociants Working With Wine Program; a biennial wine masterclass series brought to Australia by premier importer and distributor Negociants Australia. This seminar is focused …
For once, you can judge this Longview The Piece Shiraz 2016 by its label. Here's a wine that cohesively matches up concept, packaging and product. I love it. View this post on …
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 …
Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio, you do my head in. Here's a variety capable of textural magnificence. Of mouthfilling richness in Alsace or Central Otago, then pure, saline delicacy and effortless freshness in …
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 environment.
Twenty years later and I spend my days wearing many (wine) hats, mostly as a writer, presenter and marketer.
I now judge at wine shows around the world, sit on the Australian Wine List of the Year awards panel and was once a Wine Journalism Young Gun (but baby that was years ago).
Currently, I write features for a variety of publications including National Liquor News, Gourmet Traveller WINE and the RAS, plus I'm a former Lifestyle FOOD channel wine expert.
In 2019 and 2020 I was voted in the Top 30 Best Wine Critics in The World, and in my spare time, I'm a sucker for punishment and run trail ultra marathons, much to the delight of my long-suffering family. Read more about me here or get in touch to book your next wine event with me here