It's been fascinating to watch the revival of the big Burgundian negociants. Historically, names like Faiveley, Chanson and Louis Jadot have been treated with a certain disdain here in Australia, tagged as 'just negociant wines'. That's likely …
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 …
Mylkappa Wines Pinot Noir Rosè 2017 A new name to me but with plenty of interest. Mylkappa is a small Adelaide Hills vineyard at Birdwood that has largely grown fruit for other producers, only recently turning …
Shaw + Smith Pinot Noir 2017 I'm happy to be proven wrong (and Ashton Hills does it regularly), but I still don't see Adelaide Hills as a prime Pinot Noir region. Good wines, yes, but not …
Terre à Terre Summertown Reserve Pinot Noir 2017 I'm torn. This is so polished and ripe and has a real Pinosity - but is it just a bit too much of a serious dry red rather …
From near misses to faulty junk. Here is a collection of the wines that almost won me over in October 2018. A special, frustrating mention to the two Leasingham wines. I grew up worshipping the mid …
Sunshine Creek Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2015 A traditionally structured, if slightly old school (complete with cork seal) Yarra Pinot with plenty of flavour. Glacé cherry nose, the full and extractive palate has broad, vanilla bean …
Mandala Matriarch Pinot Noir 2015 The pointy end of the Mandala range, from a great vintage. All MV6 clone fruit, it was handpicked and all destemmed, spends 9 months in 50% new oak. That's lots of …
Soumah Equilibrio Pinot Noir 2017 Here's one Yarra winery that has just exploded into prominence. When I first tried the Soumah wines they were largely leafy, savoury and anything-but-mainstream Yarra wines with an Italianate bent. Now there …
First Foot Forward Pinot Noir 2017 Great value and authenticity in the First Foot Forward range. This Pinot is tasty and well priced. Wild fermented, and matured in 15% new French oak. Limpid raspberry fruit is …
Nikkal Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2017 The entry level Pinot from Kate Goodman and it's easily attractive. It's a smoky, serious edge wine at first, complete with a whiff of ham, underneath though it's gentle and …
Soumah Pinot Noir 2017 The entry level Soumah Yarra Pinot and genuinely likeable. It's a bright and lively Yarra Pinot with a sappy red currant and raspberry nose, then a crunchy palate with a pithy finish. …
Bird on a Wire Pinot Noir 2016 Another well-made Yarra wine from Caroline Mooney. This comes from a vineyard west of Coldstream. 100% whole bunches, with foot treading during the ferment too. Hands-on. In a more robust …
Tucks Ridge Estate Pinot Noir 2016 Things are changing at Tucks Ridge, and this is the last of the old, pre-Montalto era. Fruit primarily from Red Hill up the top of the Peninsula. Wild fermented, it …
Curly Flat Pinot Noir 2016 Outside of Tassie, if there is one cool climate wine region in Australia that shows the most latent promise it is the Macedon Ranges. I had dinner with a few Macedon …
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 …
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.