When the annual James Halliday Wine Companion announces a 5 Red Star winery and awards red wines scores as high as 95 and 96 points, I generally sit up and take notice. This year, the release of the 2025 Companion listed Victorian producer Sanguine Estate in this elite category. With such accolades, what else could…
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Burgundy is indisputably the best known pinot noir and chardonnay region in the world and undeniably sets the benchmark for other regions to reach. And if there’s an Australian wine region that most closely emulates the climate of Burgundy, it’s arguably the Tumbarumba district in the western foothills of the Snowy Mountains. The famed “High Country” is…
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Having written, this year, about the chardonnay hot spots of the Orange region in New South Wales and the glorious Adelaide Hills in South Australia, I’ve copped a bit of flack from chardy-lovers for neglecting the “best chardonnay region outside of Burgundy”, (so they said) – the Margaret River in the West. And I can…
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If you ask the Adelaide Hills locals, they’ll likely tell you that the local Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir are the best varietals produced in their region. After all, it’s been producers like Martin Shaw of Shaw and Smith who have made Adelaide Hills Sauvies Australia’s answer to the ever-popular Marlborough versions. And it’s Ashton…
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Just as the pendulum swings, consumer’s palates oscillate from grape to grape and style to style. Sometimes, it’s seasonal, but other times it’s just that a change is as good as a holiday. The phenomenon is nothing new – we’ve seen the waxing and waning of the passion fruit flavoured sparkling wines of the 1970’s…
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In an industry dominated by the corporates, there are hundreds, if not thousands of small winemakers across Australia seeking to establish their brands and carve out a living. Most are dreaming of hitting the oenological paydirt that will establish them both reputationally and financially for life. But as in elite sports, it’s often the “one-percenters”…
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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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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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The chardonnay grape is undeniably Australia’s most important white wine varietal. According to the 2020 Wine Australia report, it’s the second most widely planted grape (after shiraz) and the most widely grown. With 285,000 tonnes crushed, it accounts for some 19% of the total crop in Australia and (at least in my opinion) remains the…
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Call it a goonsack, spacebag, bogan briefcase or plonk pillow, the humble wine cask is a uniquely Australian contraption that revolutionised large format wine sales through the 1970’s and to this day, remains as Aussie as vegemite on your toast or lamb cutlets on your barbie. Since the design was first patented by Australian Winemaker,…
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