While I struggle through the man flu and can't smell anything, here are a few Shiraz/Syrah to pass the desk recently. Leeuwin Estate Art Series Margaret River Shiraz 2014 This is the best Art Series Shiraz I've …
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, …
Q: Have you noticed any trends among the wines this year? A: 'The quality of the 2015 vintage in South Australia and Victoria'. That's James Halliday, talking trends in an article on the Wine Companion website. …
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 …
Lino Ramble Vinyl McLaren Vale Shiraz 2016 For a while there I thought that Lino Ramble was something obscure. What's a Lino Ramble? I was even pronouncing it 'Lee-no'. Turns out it's just a reference to …
Hither & Yon Grenache Mataro 2016 Big fan of the packaging on these Hither & Yon wines. My family are too, with the distinctive ampersand on the bottle a massive hit at Monday night family dinner …
Brash Higgins MRLO Merlot 2016 This is the best Australian Merlot I've had in some time. Importantly, this doesn't taste anything like your average Aussie Merlot. Instead, it reads from a song sheet that is more like …
Inkwell Deeper Well Shiraz 2011 The Deeper Well is Dudley Brown & Irina Santiago Brown's super premium Shiraz release, intended to serve as a barrel selection of the most age-worthy bits. Indeed, Dudley believes this Shiraz is …
Wirra Wirra The Angelus Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 If you want an example of a well-run winery, then Wirra would be a first stop. From the evergreen success of The Church Block, to how sensitively the purchase of …
Dodgy Bros. Sellicks Foothills Shiraz 2015 Wes Pearson & crew's original McLaren Vale Shiraz, sourced from two vineyards in the Sellicks Foothills in McLaren Vale. Big red country down there, and this is typically mouthfilling. There's a …
Hither & Yon McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 Deep, black, ripe fruit. That's the core style of this Hither & Yon reds - and the hallmark of the winery's reds in general. Ripe and full. With this …
Curtis Family Vineyards Cavaliere McLaren Vale Shiraz 2015 Always great when an unknown red lands on the doorstep with a lofty pricetag. Instantly there is that admiration for anyone taking a punt for $$$, but also …
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.
More than fifteen years later and I currently spend my days wearing many (wine) hats, mostly as a writer, presenter and marketer.
While wearing my writer hat I contribute to the likes of The Retiree; Gourmet Traveller WINE, National Liquor News and the RAS plus I'm a Lifestyle FOOD channel wine expert.
Crowned the 2009/10 WCA Wine Journalism 'Young Gun', in my spare time I'm a wine judge and recently graduated with a Masters in Wine Technology & Viticulture from Melbourne University.
This site (Australian Wine Review or ozwinereview for short) is dedicated to talking about wine, beer and other good things. Largely focused on Australian wine, but with a healthy dose of tasty vino from NZ, France, Italy, Spain.. oh hell, if it's good, I'm in.
Follow me also at twitter.com/ozwinereview or facebook.com/AustralianWineReview or Google+ or instagram.com/ozwinereview.
Also check out my other project, Sydney's best wine tasting business The Tasting Glass.