Chardonnay is Australia’s most widely planted white wine varietal but to this day, remains divisive amongst consumers. There are many, like me, who regard it as the most regal of white wine varietals. But there are plenty of rather vocal haters – like my friend Jenny, who swears that she wouldn’t ruin her risotto by pouring…
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If not for the Patagonian wine region in Argentina, Central Otago could lay claim to being the world’s southern-most wine region. Those who’ve visited Queenstown and it’s surrounds on the Shaky Isle’s South Island, will know of the raw beauty of the craggy ranges and glacier-carved canyons that attract hundreds of thousands of tourists each…
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Big, ripe, and juicy Australian shiraz are wines that are as popular abroad as our famous native marsupials like the koala and kangaroo. In the United Kingdom, South Australian shiraz is the biggest selling Australian varietal, while in the United States, they buy the low end sweet and sugary shiraz from “south-eastern Australia” like it’s…
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I’m sure it’s not just me and that there are other “oenological bowerbirds” out there; wine lovers that are easily distracted by the shiny new object and constantly on the lookout for something different, intriguing, and experimental. After all, variety is the spice of life, right? Well, if you’re a Bowerbird of the vinous type,…
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It’s all New Zealand’s fault. And their day of reckoning will come. Why is it that a grape as popular, pretty and racy as sauvignon blanc became indistinguishable from Cottees fruit cordials? Fruit forward and sweet, these new-age versions of the Loire Valley classic are as perfumed as they are pungent; structure free zones that…
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It was during a 2006 visit it Italy that I first fell in love with Brunello. It was a wine that was as fleshy, and it was seductive; and as medium to full bodied as it was balanced. At the time I couldn’t believe that it was made entirely from the Sangiovese grape – a…
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Chardonnay may be the most regal of white varietals, but it’s probably also the most divisive. When it comes to wine, we’ve all got opinions, but when it comes to chardonnay, those I talk to either love it or hate it. Seldom is there middle ground. And I understand the repugnance of the over-oaked and…
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As the Australian daytimes get longer and the summer storms begin to roll in, most of us tend to eschew the bigger reds and instead reach for something cool and white for a pre-dinner tipple. And we’ve plenty of varietals to choose from with high quality chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and pinot gris being made by…
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The Australian Wine Industry is fortunate to be blessed with a stellar reputation for the quality of the wines that our talented winemakers produce. Across the globe, our wines are highly regarded and widely prized by collectors and consumers alike. The wine industry is now Australia’s fifth largest agricultural exporter and, according to Australian Grape…
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With the shifting sands of consumer preferences, cool climate wines, once relegated to the obscurity of the back corner of the bottle shop, are finding themselves increasingly front and centre on the wine buyer’s radar. From the Macedon Ranges and Pyrenees in Victoria, to Great Southern in Western Australia, Orange and Hilltops in NSW and…
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