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 …
It's new release season in the wine industry, which means that I came home to a small mountain of samples to pickup from the post office. But this is new …
I'm finally getting back into some sort of normal programming this week, or whatever that means when you're a new parent. The little one is sleeping, but the days now …
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 flagship red for Robert Stein and named after the boat that brought the Stein family to Australia in 1838. The Robert Stein Kinnear 2014 is 97% Shiraz and 3% …
This is the year to be getting into (or back into) Australian Riesling. I hate broad vintage generalisations in Australia (which is too massive and varied for any sort of generalisation …
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 …
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 …
It must be tough pushing the Riesling wagon in Mudgee. I mean, we're talking about a region that already has challenges with its identity, let alone focusing on a variety that …
Huntington Estate Mudgee Gewurztraminer 2015 Now this is a surprise packet. I've got a massive soft spot for Gewurtz, but this Huntington Estate is good. Concentrated and varietal, the nose a riot …
di Lusso - great pizza and solid, varietally correct, Italian inspired wines. Now there's a good recipe for a cellar door experience, and Mudgee's di Lusso do it well. Only challenge …
It doesn't get much attention but there is a fair bit of Semillon in Mudgee, with Robert Stein, Huntington Estate, Burundulla and Bunnamagoo (amongst others) all releasing dry table examples, …
I've always counted Huntington Estate as one of the forgotten labels of the wine industry. The sort that just to blend into the fabric of the wine industry and either …
Firstly, Happy Easter, I hope you had a cracking weekend. I've spent the last few days in Byron Bay, drinking beer and hanging by the pool. Amazing how much better you feel …
'Arguably the best value variety from Australia in decades' That's the Decanter opinion on Australian dry Riesling, a wine that - despite endless coaxing from wine writers, sommeliers, retailers and producers …
While I don't always share his point of view (he fired some cheap shots at me years ago and wouldn't print the replies. But that's another story), I read with …
Curiously, I had just one glass of fizz on NYE, even though 3 bottles of Krug were in the fridge. New Years Eve does that sometimes... Anyway, for this fizz roundup I …
I'm fighting through one of those nasty hangovers that just attacks your stomach today, the sort of morning after where you just feel like someone has punched you in the …
Eloquesta Shiraz Petit Verdot 2011 (Mudgee, NSW)14.5%, Screwcap, $32 Here's another charismatic wine from Stuart Olsen, this time a blend of whole bunch Shiraz and Petit Verdot. Actually, there seems to be …
Lowe Organic Block 8 Shiraz 2011 (Mudgee, NSW) 13.7%, Screwcap, $35 A tricky vintage in Mudgee. This starts juicy and rich but the palate can't quite keep up, looking dry, tannic and …
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.