Here's a producer that consistently overperforms in the value stakes. Sons of Eden is the brand of ex-Pinnacle Drinks/Dorrien Estate winemaker Corey Ryan and noted grapegrower and viticulturist Simon Cowham (ex-Yalumba) - two well-known figures in …
Bannockburn 1314 A.D. Pinot Noir 2016 The last vintage of Bannockburn's entry-level (ish) 1314 Pinot I had was wild. Polarising wild. With 100% whole bunches, it was a sappy, bitter beast that had depth, but was way …
Jacob's Creek Le Petit Rosé 2016 It's not widely known, but Jacob's Creek has a fulltime sensory scientist on staff (or at least it did when I visited a few years back). By itself that's not unusual …
Now here is a classically proportioned Langhorne Creek red at a sharp price. I say classically proportioned because this Bremerton Coulthard Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 is a biggun'. Dark red colour, boatloads of choc mint and blackberry …
This is my favourite time of year for drinking current vintage dry Australian Riesling. Sure, plenty of the best wines are nowhere near ready, but that 'just picked' freshness is addictive. This dozen is a selection …
Centenary of Griffith Durif 2015 Durif doesn't get much love. Or at least enough love. Certainly not enough given just how much flavour good Durif packs in - and often at a very fair price. This Durif …
Punt Road Airlie Bank Pinot Noir 2015 Add this into the 'best circa $20 wines basket'. Punt Road have been on an upward trend over the past few years, with a renewed focus on only producing wines …
Torzi Matthews Frost Dodger Eden Valley Riesling 2016 Once upon a time - probably 12 years ago now - all I would drink is young Riesling. Back then I would drink Grosset Watervale and Pewsey Vale …
Here's another new name to add to the list. Livewire is the label of Anthony Brain, a former chef who has spent time as winemaker for Bellarine Estate and De Bortoli (amongst others). Ant's been focused on …
I'm on the value train today, with this sextuplet of sub $30 Shiraz to kick things off. When examining reds at this 'value' end of the spectrum, it's always interesting to see how far best market …
'Arguably the best value variety from Australia in decades' That's the Decanter opinion on Australian dry Riesling, a wine that - despite endless coaxing from wine writers, sommeliers, retailers and producers - continues to not grow …
So, I'm happy to announce that the official Australian Wine Review sample pile is now nearing a manageable level! That's a very welcome improvement from the point it was at a few months ago when …
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.
More than fifteen years later and I currently spend my days wearing many (wine) hats, mostly as a writer, presenter and marketer.
While wearing my writer hat I contribute to the likes of The Retiree; Gourmet Traveller WINE, National Liquor News and the RAS plus I'm a Lifestyle FOOD channel wine expert.
Crowned the 2009/10 WCA Wine Journalism 'Young Gun', in my spare time I'm a wine judge and recently graduated with a Masters in Wine Technology & Viticulture from Melbourne University.
This site (Australian Wine Review or ozwinereview for short) is dedicated to talking about wine, beer and other good things. Largely focused on Australian wine, but with a healthy dose of tasty vino from NZ, France, Italy, Spain.. oh hell, if it's good, I'm in.
Follow me also at twitter.com/ozwinereview or facebook.com/AustralianWineReview or Google+ or instagram.com/ozwinereview.
Also check out my other project, Sydney's best wine tasting business The Tasting Glass.