Cath Oates' Margaret River wines continue to impress. Ever since the original releases using fruit nabbed from a Treasury contracted block, these wines have shone. And this Oates Ends Cabernet …
Enter another satisfyingly Barossan red. This stubby bottle of Schild Estate Narrow Road Vineyard Shiraz Cabernet 2017 lobs up an unending decadence that is undeniably attractive. It's not subtle, oak plays a …
It's time to get serious. Serious, about Barossa Shiraz. Typically we don't drink much Barossa Shiraz in this house, purely because fighting through some of the oak and alcohol excesses isn't …
Don't mind me, I'll just be over here banging on about how good Barossa Grenache is (again). This red is a year old than the Vine Vale and a different …
Grenache is one of the most exciting varieties in the country. Australia is blessed with a wondrous resource of old vine Grenache and it's only in the last decade or …
While Jason Schwarz's most recent releases are very much nouveau Barossan in style - vital, mid weight wines - there are still a few arch-traditional winners in the Schwarz range, …
According to this benchmark New York Times article, our music tastes are set in our teens. For men, it means your favourite song is likely to have been released when …
You know what I like best about Yangarra's wines? The neck tags that the samples land with. There's no bullshit tasting notes (who cares), no marketing guff. Just facts. And …
Shout it from the rooftops - Eldorado Road, as a label, should be much more famous. The wines are too interesting, too keen, too complex to be 'just another Victorian …
We pause this update on coronavirus for one moment to talk about Pinot Noir. It's easy to get gloomy at the moment. Actually, gloom is the default setting when all the …
It feels a little dirty to be writing about wine right now. Or maybe it's a sense of futility - I'm that guy talking about wine while sitting on one …
I'm in cleanup mode at the moment, sifting through the (physical) sample pile and my (digital) notes to tidy things up Kondo-style. While it's cathartic to delete some half-baked stories written …
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 …
Chardonnay, like it or not, is still the most important white grape in the country, making up over 45% of all white grapes crushed, and 20% of total grapes crushed, …
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 …
Would you take a look at all those shiny medal stickers on the label of this Robert Stein Dry Riesling 2019? Reminds of some of the Tyrrell's Vat 1 releases (like …
The 2017 Giant Steps wines are magnificent. Pinot, Chardonnay, Gamay et al. All in ‘best ever’ territory. I haven’t liked the riper ‘18s as much, but hot dog this Giant …
I miss eating at restaurants. Ever since our small child came along the ritual of going 'out' to dinner and lingering over a bottle or two (after a warmup beer or …
You need to be drinking more German wines. For so long now, Germany has been known for Riesling. Riesling (50% of world production) and Henkell Trocken. But here's one country - …
Meta: An abstraction from a well-known concept It's easy to get jaded about Shiraz, and particularly Barossa Shiraz, when you're exposed to a lot of it. The singularity of 'plums, alcohol, …
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, 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.
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.