These days, everyone with a social media account and a mobile phone is a food or wine critic and the power of these so-called “influencers’ increases exponentially with the increase in reach of every flippant, if not ill-considered post. And it’s a sad reality, that in the wine industry the fortunes of wineries and winemakers…
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Northern Tasmania is a region accustomed to regeneration. Not just in its seasonal scheduled back burning to reduce fuel for forest fires, but in its viticultural endeavours and oenological exploits. While grapes were first planted in the north of the state in the 1800’s, it wasn’t until the industry was re-examined in the 1950’s and…
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The Cowra wine region covers about 1250sqkm in the Lachlan River Valley at the southern end of the Central Ranges zone in NSW. Unsurprisingly, the district is amongst the lowest altitude and warmest parts of the Central Ranges region. And while the oenological offerings of the area have risen to prominence in recent decades only,…
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Whether you think it’s marketing hoo-hah or just agronomist hocus-pocus, the rise of biodynamic and organic viticulture in winemaking has been as rapid as it is profound. Just scan the shelves of your local bottle shop and it will be difficult to miss the proud declarations of each club member winery to the biodynamic farming…
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It’s often observed that the same wines, produced in geographically diverse regions, can produce disparate results in the glass and on the palate. And the truism is underscored when travelling to a different continent where not only is the terroir unique, but the winemaking heritage and practices have taken a different path to those that…
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It’s often observed that the same wines, produced in geographically diverse regions, can produce disparate results in the glass and on the palate. The truism is underscored when travelling to a different continent where not only is the terroir unique, but the wine-making heritage and practices have taken a different path to those that we…
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When a close mate announced he was travelling to South America for Chilean Wine Week in Portillo for his 50th birthday, and extended an invitation to join him, it was like moths to a porch light – not just for me, but for 11 of us in total. After all, what better way to expand…
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A tree change may sound blissful, if not idyllic to those of us who become jaded by the traffic snarls of a peak hour commute or the hectic pace of 21st century business life but to former Sunshine Coast locals, Warren and Sue Smith, it was a dream that was to become a reality when…
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Only three and a half hours drive to the north west of Sydney, lies the wine district of Mudgee, a part of the Central Ranges Zone. It may be a tad chilly there at this wintery time of year, but the cool climate, spring frosts and low rainfall make wines from local vineyards distinctive, if not…
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It was a fiasco in more ways than one, but the bulb-like bottle wrapped in straw became synonymous with a decline in quality through the 1990s. It ended the consumer’s love affair with the Italian Chianti style. Through the 1960s and 1970s, the Tuscans enjoyed enormous commercial success with their Chianti blend, but loose rules,…
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