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 even more individual. This Grenache …
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 January. Some are just nice …
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 the most quintessentially smashable Australian …
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 and New Year where life …
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 big company and then gone …
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 it justified? And indeed do …
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 2018. Note that there is friendly …
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 come first, vines later (when …
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 Australia. Actually, there are plenty of …
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 too. Handling is A1 for a …
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 & Smith, the answer was …
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 Grenache 2016 taking out the …
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 are handmade (in the literal …
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 it was only three vintages …
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, …
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, …
Matt East stopped by the tasting facility last week (I really need a tasting facility rather than just a table, fridge and sink), bringing with him two brand-new releases from his Rouleur label (a back …
Now here's a label you need to get onto. Juxtaposed is the new label of Wes Pearson, who's Dodgy Bros wines I've covered extensively in the past (have a squizz here for an example). With the Juxtaposed line …
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.