Ultimately, this Tapanappa Whalebone Merlot Cabernet Franc 2018 is too firm and ripe to be great. But maybe, just maybe, it's too young by half and I'm going to look …
Not all wines can be great. Plenty are just ‘ok drinks’, and some are just bad… Here is a selection of 48 wines that almost made it in August 2022. With this …
Bendigo via St Emilion? Nah. This Balgownie Estate Merlot Cabernet Franc 2018 is a very Aussie big red. Plenty of plums, a dash of eucalypt, the palate chunky, a bit minty, …
Brian Croser's vision of a great Right Bank Bordeaux, realised. Or at least that's the drift with this Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc 2017. Sometimes this Wrattonbully red can …
Not all wines can be great. Plenty are just ok drinks. And some are just bad. Here is a selection of wines that almost made it in March 2021. You can …
In what has become a semi-annual event, I ventured out into the Armageddon-esque sideways rain on Saturday to taste the trophy winners (and more) from the Sydney International Wine Competition. You're …
Biennially, Australian wine importer and distributor Negociants Australia put on what is arguably the greatest wine education/seminar series in the country, the Working With Wine Program. Today is the first day, …
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 …
Firstly, apologies for the little number of recent posts. More beaching, less writing for me this Christmas (not a bad thing at all). Today, I'm too sunburnt for the beach, …
From great value quaffers to absolute train wrecks, this month's compilation of 'almost' wines is a biggun'. I'm always conscious of my prejudice against overripeness and heavy-handed oak, but I call …
Chateau Petit Village 1998 I want to love Pomerol more. I like Merlot, and there's something noble about the singular focus of the region on Merlot dominant styles. Yet the inconsistency …
I'm in notebook digging mode this week and landed upon my scribbles from this year's Masters of Wine Sydney 2012 Bordeaux tasting. I make it a habit to go to this …
Australia, your 2013 birth year wine is ready (but can we make it Sunday every day)! What makes this duo so birth-year-wine-worthy is the structure. Wines explicitly built for ageing, with the eyes …
So Helen Masters of Ata Rangi dropped around last week, bringing with her a bagful of the latest releases. Never one to refuse an excuse to taste Ata Rangi with …
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, so a liquor shop seemed like fun. But then, I fell in love with wine and craft beer, and it took over my life.
Twenty three years later and I spend my days wearing many beverage hats and judge at wine shows around the world...Read more