Not all wines can be great. Plenty are just ok drinks. And some are just bad. Here then is a selection of wines that almost made it to a pass mark …
I feel like a broken record, but here is another ‘good’ Coonawarra red that might have been great with less oak. This Patrick of Coonawarra Home Block Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 …
I wish these Zema wines were just a little less overt. More elegance, tone down the oak and alcohol. This Zema Estate Family Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, for instance, is …
Robust. That's how you can describe the Zema Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2016. Dark colours, blackberry coulis on the nose and thick, berried palate edging towards overripeness, the tannins drying out the …
Fun fact: Shiraz makes up over 25% of all winegrapes crushed in Australia, and South Australia has the largest vineyard area with 76,292ha (Wine Australia figures 19/20). But what I want …
Second in line behind The Menzies in Yalumba's Coonawarra Cabernet hierarchy and it's a long term style. Set and forget form, with drying tannins as the centre feature. Oh and …
Not all wines can be great. Plenty are just ok drinks. And some are just bad. Here then is a selection of wines that almost made it over the past few …
I didn't expect to like this. Ripe Coonawarra Cabernet, finished off in an Irish whisky cask, and proudly about oak rather than fruit? It's the antithesis of the vital terroir …
Welcome to old school Coonawarra Cabernet. Mint. Tannins. Slightly warm, ripe fruit. More tannins. Stern acidity. You wouldn't call this anything but full bodied, and the best years are quite …
Mike & Colleen from Mérite are probably better known for their dead-serious approach to Merlot, but I don't mind this Malbec blend too. It's a ripe, plushly oaked Wrattonbully red, …
In what has become a semi-annual event, I ventured out into the Armageddon-esque sideways rain on Saturday to taste the trophy winners (and more) from the Sydney International Wine Competition. You're …
Petaluma, the forgotten icon. Once, a long time ago, Petaluma sat right at the pointy end of quality Australian wine. Driven by the relentlessness of Brian Croser, Petaluma had a reputation …
'71 Grange. '65 Lindemans Hunter Burgundy. Most of the real Maurice O'Shea wines. Penfolds Bin 60a. Australian wine legends, all of them. Old, glorious Aussie reds that, even at forty-plus years …
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 …
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 …
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 …
St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 This year, for the first time, I was on the judging panel for the Australian Wine List of the Year Awards, sifting through 50 odd wine …
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 …
Raidis Estate Wild Goat Shiraz 2015 Easily appealing Coonawaarra Shiraz from Steve and Emma Raidis. Cocoa powder oak, a little Coonawarra mint, the palate old school, mid noughties ripe and oak …
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 …
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