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 …
St Hugo Grenache Shiraz Mataro 2016 It's interesting to see how the St Hugo style hasn't changed over the years, despite new wines being added to the range. Still ripe, old …
Millon Estate The Royal GSM 2017 Every time I see Millon Estate I write Million Estate.... This is a tick up on the Shiraz, if also a little syrupy. 12 months …
Barossa Valley Wine Company Gravel Track Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre 2017 The Mataro/Mourvedre contrast goes on. I've seen it called either in either region now. Mataro is more Australian for mine. Anyway, …
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 …
Following on from Monday's article on blends, I thought it only fair to back it up with a selection of the better white and red blends to pass the desk …
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 …
From near misses to faulty junk. Here is a collection of the wines that almost won me over in October 2018. A special, frustrating mention to the two Leasingham wines. I …
This edition of the Almost Club is a few days late as I was busily not doing much in Noosa (photo attached. We love Noosa). Here than are 20 wines that …
Brave Souls The Able Seaman GSM 2016 My pick from the Brave Souls releases. Just to recap, Brave Souls is ulia Weirich with the Sons of Eden crew making quite classic …
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 …
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 …
After getting stuck into Penfolds this week for a lack of authenticity in their mooted new releases, I figure it's only right today to highlight a producer that is making …
Following on from last month's focus on other reds and Shiraz, this May I'm all about red blends. It's always frustrating that we seem so singularly focused on mono-varietal wines in Australia, as …
Chapel Hill Parsons Nose Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre 2016 Another runaway bargain from Chapel Hill. Hearty and even a little rustic, the style driven by blocky tannins rather than just fruit. Indeed its …
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 love Christmas. Here in Sydney town the sun shines, the water sparkles and life seems a little brighter - which is so welcome after another rough week (an infected …
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 …
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.