The Yarra Valley is considered a cold climate – but is it really? As I poured a glass of the 2008 Coldstream Hills Pinot Noir to take the edge off last Sunday’s mustard crusted lamb racks (which, I admit, were worthy of a Master Chef elimination), I pondered the “cool climate” regionality claimed by the…
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South American product often overlooked Tainted brand, unsophisticated marketing or perhaps just snobbery and bias, but the lack of Australian support for the Argentinian Wine industry is just plain bizarre. And I am not for one moment suggesting that we should unpatriotically turn our backs on our own wine industry, but when an international flavour…
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Chinese demand for Australian minerals may have saved our economy from the brunt of last decade’s GFC, and now, it seems, burgeoning demand for Aussie wine is providing an emboldened sense of optimism to the industry. Figures released by Wine Australia last month, reveal an increase of 13% on total Australian wine exports for the…
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A new breed of winemaker is changing the face of the globally renowned region, challenging the conventional approach to winemaking. The strength of South Australia’s Barossa Valley as a Shiraz producing district is globally recognized, but a new breed of winemaker is emerging in the region and subtly shifting emphasis away from Shiraz and traditional…
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Founders of Pyramids Road Winery, Warren and Sue Smith are certainly not your average school teachers. Having left their calling to plant a vineyard in 1999, these educators are far from stereotypical vignerons and some might suggest, perhaps might harbour just a touch of inner hippie! Though both Warren and Sue work the vineyard, these…
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We’ve all been there. You’re in new company, at a flash restaurant and suddenly the wine list is thrust at you and you’re told that you’re in charge of ordering the wine for the table. You squirm nervously in your seat, wipe away the sweat line that has unexpectedly appeared on your upper brow and…
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They produce Grenache wines of complexity The Grenache varietal is thought to have originated in Spain, where the hot dry climate is ideal. PARADOXICAL it may be but, despite Australia being a “New World” wine producer, we are also home to some of the oldest Grenache vines in the world! While European vineyards suffered at…
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“I like to try everything” Niamh (“Neve”) Peren tells me. And these are not the words of an experimental millennial, but rather the open-minded views of the globe-trotting daughter of Adam and Kristin Peren, the folks behind the “Two Sisters” brand from Central Otago. Niamh has recently returned home to the family property at Gibbston…
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Trend, fad, passion or fetish, call it what you will, but the growing obsession with rosé as a style seems to have finally entrenched itself in foodie culture and it seems the craze is not confined to Australian shores. In the US, a 2014 industry report observed an annual increase in retail sales of rosé…
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As Australia’s oldest wine region and having some of the world’s oldest grape vine root-stock, the Hunter Valley success story is perhaps understandable. After all, the Valley is close to Sydney and Newcastle, produces outstanding Semillon and Shiraz and is home to any number of five-star wineries. One of my favourite vineyards, Meerea Park, may…
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