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 …
Following closely on the Top 20 Chardonnay comes the Top 20 Shiraz of February 2020. For this lineup I dug deeper into the sample pile, searching - perhaps blindly - for …
This is just a taste of the finest big reds that passed the desk this November. Background notes in italics. Oakridge Original Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 Spends 3 weeks on skins post …
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 October 2019. I like plenty …
Sholto Syrah 2017 Wine's most amazing trick is to take you back to a time and place. One sniff of this Shiraz and I'm back in my garage in 2010, crouching …
Warramunda Estate Syrah 2016 The Warramunda wines are firmly on the up, even in a year as dry and challenging as 2016. Sourced from the Warramunda vineyard at Coldstream, the vines planted …
Brothers at War The Old Man Eden Valley Syrah 2017 Another well balanced release from Angus & Sam Wardlaw and well priced. This is sourced from their Pendee Farm vineyard just …
I've been digging in the notebook this week and discovered a choice tasting from last year that didn't get a run here on site - the 2018 Voyager Estate Masterclass. For …
I missed December's Almost Club edition (holidays), so this is a huge crop of almostness... As the name suggests, here are the wines that almost hit the mark for me in …
This is Part 2 of the Coleraine vertical described here. Actually, while Coleraine had top billing at the tasting, the vertical of Craggy Range Le Sol Syrah was probably even …
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 …
The title says it all, these are 10 of the best Shiraz to pass the desk this month. This isn't a comprehensive last, as I probably taste somewhere between 6000-7000 wines …
Authenticity. It's something we need more of in the wine industry. More authenticity, less made up brands. Less mid-tier reserve wines, more genuine wine labels. More single vineyards, less South Eastern …
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 …
I love it when interesting new wines from unknown wineries (to me at least) turn up at the door. It's like wine Christmas. Brackenwood is a vineyard at Kuitpo in the …
From great value quaffers to absolute train wrecks, this month's compilation of 'almost' wines is a biggun'. I'm always conscious of my prejudice against overripeness and heavy-handed oak, but I call …
Following on from my Cabernet compilation on Monday, let me introduce you to the Shiraz/Syrah selection. Twenty of the better Shiraz to pass the desk in April, all in one handy …
Soumah Equilibrio Syrah 2015 If you've got a vineyard in the lower parts of the Yarra Valley (ie Valley foor) and you aren't grafting over to Shiraz (and Gamay for that …
After last week's feedback I'm going to be sticking to just one roundup a month on site going forward (thanks everyone for the feedback). This roundup features a kaleidoscope of Australian …
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 …
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