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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Sustainability is seemingly the catch cry of the younger generation, so I shouldn’t be surprised that in recent years, there appears to have been a resurgence of interest in organic wines. And it isn’t just Generation Z who eschew “adulterated” varieties; I recently had a professional colleague unashamedly describe her preference as “small batch, low…
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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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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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It may be a product of our international image, but when we talk about South Australian wines, the discussion tends to gravitate towards the Barossa Valley district and their ripe, jammy and consumer-friendly Shiraz. And I get that the Barossa shiraz has been a big player in putting our industry on the international wine map.…
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If you’ve ever been to a wine appreciation night or wine club meeting, you’d be well familiar with the “blind wine” or “wine options” challenges that entertain, beguile and often confuse those sampling the vino on offer. These games, in which a bottle of wine is wrapped in alfoil to conceal its identity and then…
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Chardonnay was one of the varietals to arrive in the James Busby collection in 1832 but initially the grape was mostly cultivated in the Mudgee region in New South Wales before it eventually spread across the wine producing regions of Australia. And despite being a long time favourite in the Burgundy Region of France, it…
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For reasons that I struggle to understand, the Marlborough wine region has become synonymous with sauvignon blanc. The region dominates in sales of the varietal not just in New Zealand but in Australasia for that matter. Since about 2009, the Kiwis’ sauvignon blanc has been the biggest selling wine in Australia; at one point accounting…
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The Mornington Peninsula was once a fertile agricultural and grazing region, but in more recent years has become a playground for Melbourne’s bizzoids and socialites. It’s as picturesque as it is conveniently located – being only an hour and a half from the city centre. There are literally hundreds of boutique wineries on the promontory…
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