Not all wines can be great. Plenty are just ok drinks. And some are just bad. Here then is a selection of wines that almost made it to a pass mark …
Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. Joyous Festivus (take your pick of chosen intro). This has been a very weird Christmas for us. Here, situated in the only part of Australia in lockdown, Christmas …
I struggled with this Tapanappa Foggy Hill Pinot Noir 2018. It’s powerfully built, a muscular Pinot of brawn, deep-set oak and tannins, but the fruit generosity seems missing, the mid …
Modern Yarra Pinot be damned, this Seville Estate Pinot Noir 2019 is smoky, smouldering, meaty and tangy, the style lifted by acidity and morello cherry with a little bacon on …
Mark this Forty Paces Pinot Noir 2017 on the 'try me ' sheet. Setup by Jason Peasley in 2001, Forty Paces is a 1.5ha plot at Pipers Creek in the Macedon …
It's only the 16th August but this has been one glorious month for Pinot Noir. Each and every one of these wines went down well at Australian Wine Review HQ, with …
Alex Byrne has been busy. In 2016, Byrne left his job as winemaker at Lethbridge to devote himself full time to his Byrne Wines, Liquid Rock'n Roll, and Noisy Ritual projects. I …
If I had to pick just one weakness in the Shaw + Smith portfolio it is the Pinot Noir. Stylistically, this is a wine that has moved from bold and …
Burton McMahon George’s Vineyard Pinot Noir 2018The latest release from Matt Burton & Dylan McMahon's Yarra project. Sometimes these wines have looked a little too lean, but this release looks …
I'll save you some scrolling right now. The 2018 Curly Flat Pinot range is very very good. Things are different this year, however, as normally Curly Flat Pinot Noir is an assemblage …
Not all wines can be great. Plenty are just ok drinks. And some are just bad. Here then is a selection of wines that almost made it over the past few …
A new Tasmanian name and you can feel/taste the promise. To have a wine in shape like this after five years? Attention grabbed. Sourced from a plot in the Upper Derwent, …
There are relatively few Australian wineries that can boast consistent high level quality like Oakridge. More to the point, these are wines I want to drink. On a normal day …
Immediately attractive Yarra Pinot from Brad Atkins & Matthew Davis' Dixon's Creek vineyard. All the Steels Gate wines are sapid and vital but this is a step up in weight. Sappy, …
The Hanging Rock site in the Macedon Ranges is famously chilly, so the table wines can sometimes suffer. But there's a delicacy of wines like this that is pretty attractive. The …
First came the Gamay, now meet the Rising Pinot Noir 2019. This release comes from the rocky soils of the Rising Vineyard, and from the outset it aims high. 33% whole …
This Bellvale Pinot Noir 2019 is one of the best $25 Pinot Noir you'll find in Australia. Period. Crucially, this packs an intensity that isn't normally found in $25 Pinot. Maybe …
Pinot Noir from Riesling country. It's hard to leave my prejudices at the door, but that's what it always feels like with Porongurup Pinot. It's typically ripeness that is the challenge, …
Opawa is Nautilus' more affordable range and this Marlborough rosé is normally a highlight. I don't see the same glory in '19. Pink fruit starts things well, but palate is …
Reserve - aka more. With this Pike & Joyce W.J.J. Reserve Pinot Noir 2018 it means more oak, more power, more tannins. But more doesn't quite mean more drinking satisfaction …
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. Needless to say, I discovered wine, and my life evolved with a unique dual focus - wine and environment.
Twenty years later and I spend my days wearing many (wine) hats, mostly as a writer, presenter and marketer.
I now judge at wine shows around the world, sit on the Australian Wine List of the Year awards panel and was once a Wine Journalism Young Gun (but baby that was years ago).
Currently, I write features for a variety of publications including National Liquor News, Gourmet Traveller WINE and the RAS, plus I'm a former Lifestyle FOOD channel wine expert.
In 2019 and 2020 I was voted in the Top 30 Best Wine Critics in The World, and in my spare time, I'm a sucker for punishment and run trail ultra marathons, much to the delight of my long-suffering family. Read more about me here or get in touch to book your next wine event with me here