11-44 of October 2019’s best Shiraz
October 22, 2019
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 …
Top 10 Shiraz of October 2019 – Thomas Wines, Balgownie, Shaw + Smith et al.
October 21, 2019
As it says on the tin, here are ten of the best Shiraz to pass the tasting bench this October. A special note to the breadth of Hunter Shiraz from …
Almost Club October 2019 edition – more than 45 wines that almost made it this month.
October 16, 2019
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 …
23 bloody good Australian Chardonnay. Highlights from Shaw + Smith, Curly Flat, Oakridge etc
September 2, 2019
Sure, Shiraz gets all the attention, but for my money, Australia's most consistently drinkable premium variety is Chardonnay. That's simply a result of style. So much top tier Australian Shiraz - …
2019 Sydney Royal Wine Show – I tasted the trophy winners (so you don’t need to)
September 1, 2019
In what has become something of a tradition (posts here, here, here, here and here for starters), I went to this year's 2019 Sydney Royal Wine Show exhibitor event tasting …
Almost Club July 2019 Edition: 23 wines that almost made it this month
July 29, 2019
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 …
Another benchmark release: Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon 2014
July 10, 2019
Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon 2014 There is more Tyrrell's Semillon, under various labels, in my cellar than any other white wine. Maybe that colours my views, and shout out if you …
Tasting the new Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz 2017 (and a day out for the family)
May 28, 2019
On Saturday, the (newly expanded) Team Graham made it to Brokenwood's annual Graveyard lunch. There was 3 outfit changes (after multiple poonamis), and we were the only ones there with …
A collection of quality Hunter Shiraz + Semillon from Meerea Park, Vinden Estate, Gundog Estate & Andevine
April 5, 2019
Let's check in with some recent Shiraz and Semillon releases from the Hunter Valley (and beyond). A pleasure to see more experimentation with traditional Hunter styles too. Making the same wine …
Birthday wines round 2: 05 Tyrrell’s Vat 1 & cult NZ red
February 6, 2019
Welcome to tranche 2 of the #MonthofAndrew wines. I probably haven't hit the cellar as hard this birthday with the imminent baby arrival (just over two weeks until due date), but …
Almost Club January 2019 edition: A bumper new year of almostness inc. a $500 red
January 27, 2019
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 …
Opulent Oakridge 864 and 14 other quality Australian Chardonnay
January 11, 2019
With the official Graham HQ Chief Chardonnay Drinker 34 weeks pregnant, I'm not opening up as much Chardonnay as normal (outside of tasting lineups). The flip side is that I'm probably …
15 Australian Cabernet (and blends) that looked good in late 2018
January 2, 2019
Happy New Year! I'm celebrating the start of 2019 with a little tasting note house cleaning, how about you? Actually I'm mainly at the beach. Before we crack out the towels …
What will grow here? 9 smart wines that aren’t regional heroes
December 17, 2018
Christmas is my favourite time of year. The smell of gardenias. The sun. The green grass. The promise of holidays. It's so good. This time of year is also perfect for …
16 top $30+ Australian Shiraz just in time for Christmas
December 12, 2018
I'm still working out what to drink on Christmas day. I've got most of the usual boxes ticked - Primo Joseph sparkling red, '12 Giaconda Chardonnay maybe and a stray bottle …
A Hunter Gathering: Lots of (quality) new Hunter Valley releases
November 6, 2018
On Thursday, a squad of Hunter Valley winemakers came to Sydney to show off some new releases at the new Brix Distillery. While I couldn't hang around and drink beer with …
Almost Club October 2018 edition: From ‘not bad’ to ‘how did that get bottled’
October 29, 2018
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 …
The Almost Club September 2018 edition – 20+ wines that almost made it
October 5, 2018
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 …
2018 Sydney Royal Wine Show – how do the winners taste (and why did they win)?
September 4, 2018
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 …
Good times in the Hunter Valley?
September 2, 2018
(This is a version of an article I wrote for a recent edition of National Liquor News magazine. There's a different tone here to the usual Australian Wine Review style, …
About me – Andrew Graham
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, 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.
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.