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 …
Lou Miranda Estate Old Vine Grenache 2018 One of the better wines from the Lou Miranda stable for mine. Nails the old vine Grenache mode with generous fruit and no oak. From …
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 …
I'm on a bit of a McLaren Vale run at the moment, even if it was unintentional. Actually, maybe it's not - if I was forced to pick a specialisation, …
Schwarz Wine Co. Meta Grenache 2018 Mark this down as another example of the rebounding fortune of Australian Grenache. The Schwarz wines are always charismatic, and the somewhat experimental Meta wines are …
I missed December's Almost Club edition (holidays), so this is a huge crop of almostness... As the name suggests, here are the wines that almost hit the mark for me in …
The premise with this collection is very very simple - I've been hitting the sample pile hard over the past week or two, and these 30 wines were not only …
It's been a long month here at Graham HQ, and the next few weeks promise to be just as intense. I can't wait for that glorious period in between Christmas …
There isn't much that Stepen Pannell - aka S.C. Pannell - hasn't done. Here's a winemaker that has won a Jimmy Watson Trophy (twice if you count Hardys). Worked for a …
Wine shows cop a lot of flack. You need only read the feedback to my post on the 2018 Sydney Royal Wine Show exhibitors tasting to see that. But is …
From solid drinks to faulty train wrecks (and everything in between), the Almost Club is for wines that didn't hit the Australian Wine Review 'recommended' mark (17/20, 90/100) in August …
What I really like, more than anything, about Yangarra is that it's a winery built around a great vineyard. That's somewhat unusual in the world of Australian wine, where typically labels …
Authenticity. It's something we need more of in the wine industry. More authenticity, less made up brands. Less mid-tier reserve wines, more genuine wine labels. More single vineyards, less South Eastern …
Schwarz Meta Grenache 2017 It's not hard to get enthused about these Schwarz Meta wines. The pointy end of Barossa wine and just delicious drinks. This Grenache is an absolute standout …
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 …
In theory at least, Australian Grenache just had a jumpstart. For the first time ever, a Grenache has won the most famous wine award in Australian wine, with the Turkey Flat …
There is another side to the Barossa. A side that sits beyond big brands, the cellar doors, the marketing budgets and the volume. A world where producers are small, the wines …
Grenache is back. Not that it every really went anywhere, but there's a palpable sense of enthusiasm for Grenache (and notably Australian Grenache) that wasn't there a few years back. Of course …
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 …
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.