Another week, and another Sapling Yard red. I liked the Shiraz Viognier, and this Sapling Yard Curmudgeon Shiraz is another unforced modern Canberra Shiraz Viognier that I didn't mind. Includes 3% …
New labels are what make this wine-writing gig interesting. A new story, new characters, new wines, new takes... Wine is amazing. Anyway, this Shiraz Viognier comes from Sapling Yard, a new …
I still don't see the word Dynamic anywhere on the bottle of this Taltarni Dynamic Shiraz Viognier 2020. Maybe it's an internal thing? Anyway, this is ripe Pyrenees red in …
I’m back across the Great Dividing Range again, swapping the cool and dry of Canberra for endless moistness here in Sydney. Before I left our nation’s capital there was a final …
Welcome to 2022! Taking out the recycling over the past few days reminded me that a) I drink plenty of beer b) there were some seriously fine wines opened over the …
Why would you blend Viognier with Shiraz in McLaren Vale? It's not like the Mistral-chilled hillsides of the northern Rhone, where you need the Viognier to add flesh to bony, …
In what has become a semi-annual event, I ventured out into the Armageddon-esque sideways rain on Saturday to taste the trophy winners (and more) from the Sydney International Wine Competition. You're …
Always a pleasure to check in one of the benchmarks of Australian wine and the Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2018 is a beauty. This was only a very quick taste as …
Not all wines can be great. Plenty are just ok drinks. And some are just bad… Here’s a selection of wines that almost made it in July 2019. I like plenty …
I'm on a bit of a McLaren Vale run at the moment, even if it was unintentional. Actually, maybe it's not - if I was forced to pick a specialisation, …
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 …
Following on from last month's focus on other reds and Shiraz, this May I'm all about red blends. It's always frustrating that we seem so singularly focused on mono-varietal wines in Australia, as …
There is another side to the Barossa. A side that sits beyond big brands, the cellar doors, the marketing budgets and the volume. A world where producers are small, the wines …
Forgive the clickbait title, but that was how the 'Yves Cuilleron vs Australia' tasting I went to today was pitched. This event, organised by the local Cuilleron distributors, saw 4 of …
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. But then, I fell in love with wine and craft beer, and it took over my life.
Twenty three years later and I spend my days wearing many beverage hats and judge at wine shows around the world...Read more