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 …
A self explanatory title, here are 12 of the best 12 Chardonnay to pass the desk in July 2018. If anything, this list just highlights the high standard of Chardonnay in Australia. …
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 …
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 …
Here are a few wines that almost made it in February (and a day late I know). A few serious disappointments here, and a few solid, simple wines. That Ferngrove was …
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 …
I know that plenty of people dislike these larger roundup style posts, but following on from my list of the Chardonnay hits of the summer, it seems only natural that …
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 …
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 …
Castelli Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 Castelli's recent form has been excellent, with a line of superb Chardonnay and Cabernet (in particular). This Estate Cab is another fine release. What appeals here is …
Galafrey Dry Grown Great Southern Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 It's easy to make generalisations when we see wine jargon. Whole bunch. Old vines. Dry grown. All of it fits in that space …
Galafrey Dry Grown Reserve Riesling 2016 Following on in this line of '16 Riesling comes another crazy cheap wine. Is Riesling our most under-priced variety? It would be easy to make …
Chardonnay is the most popular grape in my house. By a margin. Pinot rates highly when winter comes along, but Chardie is the champ. I didn't take this 2014 Castelli Estate …
I'm moving at the moment, which means that my whole world is in a box in one place or another - everything feels misplaced, even though it is not lost …
Xabregas are one of the better proponents of off-dry Riesling in Oz, even though I prefer the less-sweet bottlings. This Xabregas X2 Riesling is classified as 'sweet' on the back …
'Arguably the best value variety from Australia in decades' That's the Decanter opinion on Australian dry Riesling, a wine that - despite endless coaxing from wine writers, sommeliers, retailers and producers …
So, I'm happy to announce that the official Australian Wine Review sample pile is now nearing a manageable level! That's a very welcome improvement from the point it was at …
It feels like anything but Riesling weather in Sydney this weekend and I can only feel for the producers at the Wine Island festival who would have endured three days …
Hot on the heels of my ranty response to a rant on Australian Chardonnay styles, and Jancis' very complementary piece on modern Australian Chardonnay, let me present to you a …
Plantagenet Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 Interesting to taste this up against a varied squad of Cabernet competitors. A surprisingly marginal wine to be honest, reflecting in this wine's variable reputation. The Plantagenet …
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