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 …
Obviously it's July now (not June), but I did a quick trawl through the tasting book today and it revealed an interesting stat - Riesling, Chardonnay and Semillon make up the bulk of the white …
It's 3 days late I know, but here are a few wines that almost hit the mark this month. Some are just good, simple drinks. Others are genuinely average to poor... Hand Crafted Montepulciano 2016 From Geoff …
There is no reason why this tasting should be so bad. Yet every year I line up a collection of textural white wines and every year it's disappointing. Except that this lineup didn't suck at all. …
Here are a few wines that almost made it in February (and a day late I know). A few serious disappointments here, and a few solid, simple wines. That Ferngrove was notably unbalanced - what's happening …
As you can see the volume of posts has dropped off a bit lately as I'm still not feeling great. My ankle issues turned out to be an arthritis flare up, and the last few …
'Good things come to those who wait.' That's the motto at Seresin, the Marlborough-based winery that prouds itself as an uncommon, 'new world winery with an old world approach'. Actually, they're not that uncommon as there are …
Well, I still can't drink, which makes it a little sad to be opening wines from one of my favourite Kiwi producers. It's the reminder that normally I'd prefer to be roadtesting these at dinner …
Based purely on subjective gut feel, I've presumed that Sauvignon Blanc sales in Australia have peaked and over the past year or so are on the downward slope. Turns out that I'm wrong. According to 2017 IRI …
It's impressive to see the volume of Rhone whites in this lineup of Yarra Wines tasted recently. A reminder that the Yarra Valley is more than just Chard/Pinot/Cab/Shiraz and makes some of the best Viognier/Marsanne/Roussanne …
Sidewood Mappinga Adelaide Hills Fume Blanc 2015 I've got the whole range of Sidewood Mappinga releases on the bench at the moment, promising much. This Adelaide Hills producer has been scooping the pool of late, headlined …
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.