I’ve always found the wines of the Rhone region fascinating, if not charming. And particularly those of the Southern Rhone where the winemakers of the Côtes du Rhône villages set an exacting standard using Châteauneuf-du-Pape as their role model. In the region, the wines are typically richer, spicier and higher in alcohol than other parts…
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When a good mate of mine emailed me to let me know that our 2020 boys wine appreciation trip was a visit to Hahndorf in South Australia, I smiled from ear to ear. I’ve visited the German hamlet in the Adelaide Hills a few times before and I’ve always thought that it’s up there with…
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Refresh, reinvent and reinvigorate are terms often thrown around by marketeers and business consultants and we well know that the alcohol sector is not immune from their self-proclaimed wisdom. It may be a statement of the obvious, but it’s probably fair to say that these days, consumers are looking to try something new and different…
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Murray Street Vineyards 2017 Red Label “The Barossa” Fans of the comedy series, Frasier, would be acquainted with the French style, Châteauneuf-du-Pape; the red wine that Frasier Crane is frequently observed ordering while eating out at French restaurants. It’s a blend of red varietals from a region in the southern Rhône area near Avignon which…
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While the French and the Americans are still fighting about what it means to be an “organic” wine, there are some up-and-coming Australian producers who are kicking goals with “preservative free” styles of popular varietals; wineries like Temple Bruer in South Australia who are not only organic but also vegan friendly. I hadn’t ever had…
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Rediscover a love for a style of wine that is often overlooked by the modern-day consumer I’ve never understood why riesling, as a style, isn’t more popular, but the fact remains that it accounts for only around 1.4% of the national grape crush. And to put that sad statistic in perspective, according to the 2018…
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They were long, hot and often dry summers, but some of my fondest childhood memories are of spending the Christmas school holidays going to the beach, swimming in my friends’ pools, and spending countless hours with eyes glued to a static-ridden tv screen listening to Richie Benaud calling the Ashes. I loved watching Dennis Lillee…
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The terms “Vielles Vignes” or “old vines” have become to the wine industry what buzzwords like “superfood”, “natural” and “organic” are to products on the supermarket shelves; terms that sound impressive to the consumers and get the cash registers ringing, but beyond enabling a price premium to be achieved, does it really make any discernible…
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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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If I had a “tenner” for every time I’ve heard people say that “the sulphites in red wine give me headaches”, I reckon I’d probably be on a plane to the Bahamas right now! Rightly or wrongly, sulphur dioxide (SO2) is often blamed as being the cause of hangovers and headaches on the morning after…
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