Following on from my post about 2015 vintage generalisations, here is a roundup of a swag of 2015 reds from Victoria and South Australia that have passed the desk recently. Mornington and Yarra the winners here, …
Here's a producer that consistently overperforms in the value stakes. Sons of Eden is the brand of ex-Pinnacle Drinks/Dorrien Estate winemaker Corey Ryan and noted grapegrower and viticulturist Simon Cowham (ex-Yalumba) - two well-known figures in …
Premium cask wine - sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it? But it's a concept that one producer, Tote Wines, are trying to breathe life into, releasing a duo of premium 1.5 litre cask wines that are …
This is the third part of a look at rosé - one of the fastest growing categories in the Australian wine industry. Best to start here. While this is a roundup of 'the rest' what's most …
Following on from yesterday's rosé report, today I've pulled out four of the best pink wines to pass the desk recently. Four standouts in an ocean of simple, sometimes sweet, sometimes dry, often middling wines. Actually, …
Jacobs Creek Barossa Signature Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 Jacobs Creek; ever the value champions. This style will always be a natural winner for JC, and often better than the equivalent Shiraz. Jubey and juicy blackberry fruit here with …
Jacobs Creek Barossa Signature Chardonnay 2016 A new range for Jacobs Creek that is all Barossa based. Caused some controversy with the trademark rights too. A lean-but-worked style, this smells of banana cream, the milky, leesy …
Peter Lehmann 8 Songs Barossa Shiraz 2013 Now that Peter Lehmann is part of the Casella stable the brand seems to be getting more love. Interesting to see what happens now. This Shiraz - which was once …
Tim Smith Wines Mataro Grenache Shiraz 2015 Tim Smith has a real knack with texture. That may sound notional, but all of his reds - and I'm largely talking reds here - have a generosity that …
La Maschera Rosè of Granaxia 2016 Just one of a phalanx of new pink wines from the Hill Smith extended stable. Great packaging on this too. A blend of Barossa Grenache with a little Sangiovese. Light orange …
Schwarz Meta Barossa Valley Shiraz 2015 2015 was a tough vintage in the Barossa. I experienced that firsthand as I worked a few weeks of the '15 Barossa harvest with Marco Cirillo and saw much of …
Hentley Farm Black Beauty Sparkling Shiraz 2016 disgorgement What a great name for a sparkling Shiraz. You can't see it very well in my crap photo, but this comes in excellent packaging too, complete with a …
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.
More than fifteen years later and I currently spend my days wearing many (wine) hats, mostly as a writer, presenter and marketer.
While wearing my writer hat I contribute to the likes of The Retiree; Gourmet Traveller WINE, National Liquor News and the RAS plus I'm a Lifestyle FOOD channel wine expert.
Crowned the 2009/10 WCA Wine Journalism 'Young Gun', in my spare time I'm a wine judge and recently graduated with a Masters in Wine Technology & Viticulture from Melbourne University.
This site (Australian Wine Review or ozwinereview for short) is dedicated to talking about wine, beer and other good things. Largely focused on Australian wine, but with a healthy dose of tasty vino from NZ, France, Italy, Spain.. oh hell, if it's good, I'm in.
Follow me also at twitter.com/ozwinereview or facebook.com/AustralianWineReview or Google+ or instagram.com/ozwinereview.
Also check out my other project, Sydney's best wine tasting business The Tasting Glass.