Mandala Pinot Noir 2017 Some of the '17 Yarra Pinots are very light and fragrant things, to the point of being a little shallow. Like this one. It's a bright raspberry fruited Pinot with some confected …
Sailor Seeks Horse Pinot Noir 2016 Here's a label on the rise. Gilli and Paul Lipscombe's Sailor Seeks Horse continues to produce beautiful Tasmanian wines from a rehabilitated 'renovators delight' vineyard in the Huon Valley. This …
Bay of Fires Pinot Noir 2016 From a big warm year in Tasvegas, and it's a wine of some bulk - built for the future. Creamed vanilla oak nose over bright strawberry fruit, with oak the …
Rouleur Pinot Noir 2017 Matt East's superb Shiraz made my Top 10 Shiraz list a few months ago, and now the Yarra Pinot Noir lobs up and it's a beauty. I've tried this twice now and …
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 almost hit the mark in …
From Shaw + Smith's prospective project to consistent quality wine in the space of just a few vintages - the Tolpuddle Vineyard has come a long long way. The Chardonnay, in particular, is so very good every …
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 it justified? And indeed do …
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 …
It seems like a big jump to go from jewellery valuer to Barossa winemaker. But that's the route Michael Hall's life has followed. From a childhood in the UK to the 'rarefied air' of record breaking …
Oh yes, this is a big edition! As the name suggests, these are the 34 wines that almost made the Australian Wine Review top grade (of 17/20 or 90/100+) this month. Some missed the mark by a …
Sometimes, you get what you pay for. In the wine industry it doesn't happen as often as you'd like, but occasionally you pay for great wine and really get it. With these new single vineyard Shaw + …
There's always questions when the founder of a famous winery leaves. Will the wine style change? Prices go up? Labels disappear? No matter how many times the new owner says that it will be 'business as …
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.