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 this collection - opened at …
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 most quintessentially smashable Australian …
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 opening lots of wines. I …
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 2018. Note that there is friendly …
For the final post in my 'wines that moved me in April' series comes this final collection - that I'm calling the 'better reds that aren't Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz or Pinot Noir'. As a primer, check …
Pizzini La Volpe Nebbiolo 2014 Tangy, light bodied King Valley Nebbiolo with easy appeal. Hints of mint, a liberal dose of Neb brickdust and light cherry flavours. I like the varietal flavour here, even if it's …
I first tasted the Virago wines back in 2015, describing it as a 'label to watch'. After retasting the range now in 2018, I'm noting that down as a great call - these are some of …
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 miss the mark completely. Why post …
It's amazing to think that, within a few hundred kilometres on Italian motorways, Nebbiolo has 3 different names. Three! Yet despite all that divergence, our Australian context for 'the king of grapes' tends to start …
Orlando Abrigo Barbaresco Montersino 2011 Had this at Armando Al Pantheon in Rome, which was easily the biggest food disappointment of the trip (overcooked food and surly service). Even had the somm tell me that they 'only stock …
Pizzini Nebbiolo 2012 No, it's not from Piedmont. That's the Nebbiolo caveat. It's the assumption that anything outside of the Langhe is ultimately inferior. I can only imagine how hard it is for winemaker's making Nebbiolo anywhere …
It's that time again - time to roundup a selection of wines that didn't quite make it onto the site. Some because of time and space, others because they failed the grade, this January 2017 …
It's that time again. These wines didn't quite make it up onto the site in October... Yelland & Papps Devote Roussanne 2015 From Greenock. Wild fermented, basket pressed and matured in 29% new French oak. Unfined and …
It's that time again. These wines haven't quite made a full write up this month. Odds and ends... Sunshine Creek Yarra Valley Cabernets 2013 No back label. Feel the mystery! Not quite in the same realm as the …
Ah the frustration of the acute accent on the e in rosé! So often missing in action, leaving you to wonder why someone is talking about how delicious it is to drink a flower. I only …
On the back of a week of Victorian Shiraz (including top wines from Lethbridge and Willow Creek), I thought it only natural that we carry on the theme this week, with a collection of Victorian …
You'd think that the daughter of Piedmont producer Angelo Gaja - long feted as a king of Italian wine - would be anything but approachable. Gaia Gaja is exactly that. Seriously attractive, well spoken and disarmingly …
Nebbiolo Files: 3 more (challenging) Aussies The search for good Aussie Nebbiolo continues, even though it felt a little masochistic with this trio. As ever, patience is required, with all of three looking better on day …
8 fine Aussie and Italian Nebbiolo I'll be the first to admit that Australia is yet to 'crack' the Nebbiolo formula. Sure, as some of the wines in this tasting show, we're producing good wines. Real good …
G.D. Vajra Langhe Nebbiolo 2010 (Piedmont, Italy) The approachable face of Piedmont Nebbiolo, from a producer with a knack for getting it right lately. Plenty to like. Can't see the value at $125 on a Sydney …
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.