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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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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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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According to Saint Ambrose, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. So, when in New Zealand, how could I defy native ideology and look elsewhere than the wares of the vignerons of both the South and North Islands? While visiting their country, would it be churlish to refuse the local offerings in favour of…
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It was only late in 2001 that a Californian Professor and Geneticist, Dr Carole Meredith used DNA profiling to conclusively prove that both Zinfandel and the Italian favourite, Primitivo was in fact a Croatian grape, known as Crlenak Kastelanski. Until then, the Americans and Italians had both claimed the grape as a national native, but…
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It may not be a style which is frequently vinted on its own, but Cabernet Franc is undoubtedly an enigmatic grape with a fascinating history. Thought to have originated in the Basque Country in the Western Pyrenees, Cabernet Franc has been proven through DNA analysis to be a parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. In the late…
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Maybe I’m becoming sentimental as middle age takes its grip, but when I recently learned that a cellar door outlet for a Granite Belt Winery has opened a few hundred metres from my childhood home, I couldn’t help but feel a wistful longing for a return to my childhood stomping ground – even if it…
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Rich, voluptuous and complex. No, I’m not about to review a recent episode of the diatribe that the Kardashian clan masquerade as acceptable television content, but rather discuss the Nero d’Avola grape that is Sicily’s best known native red wine varietal. Often compared to Shiraz or Grenache, it has the fullish body of a warm…
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“Monastrell, Mourvedre or Mataro?” I asked my friend’s Rebecca, John and Michael when they recently called over to pick up their 10-year-old sons after a post-rugby playdate late on Saturday afternoon. Darkness was imposing itself on what had otherwise been a glorious day of autumn Queensland weather and it was most certainly wine o’clock. So…
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