James Halliday: Australian wine companion 2013 edition Hardie Grant Books. RRP $34.95 (paperback) James Halliday: A life in wine Hardie Grant Books. RRP $45 (hardcover) This year’s review copy of Australian wine companion 2013 arrived with a bonus – James Halliday’s easy-reading autobiography, A life in wine. The companion’s just as the name suggests – … Continue reading Book review — Halliday wine companion and autobiography
Moppity Vineyards Estate Chardonnay 2015 – Wine of the week Moppity vineyards, Tumbarumba, NSW $29–$32 Where chardonnay makes decent but not exciting wines at Moppity’s Hilltops vineyard, in higher, cooler Tumbarumba it’s a happier story. Up here, the grapes ripen fully with intense flavours and high natural acidity. Varietal flavours of grapefruit and nectarine reflect … Continue reading Wine review – Moppity Vineyards, Coldstream Hills, Tellurian, Chapel Hill, Tyrrell’s
Coldstream Hills Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2014 Yarra Valley, Victoria $26.60–$35 Nothing focuses the mind on a pinot like a good example of it. Three times over a period of over 20 years Coldstream Hills Reserve Pinot Noir 1992 did this: on its release in the early 90s, at a 2011 tasting hosted in Bernkastel, … Continue reading Wine reviews – Coldstream Hills, Penfolds, Tahbilk, De Bortoli, Tyrrell’s
Ravensworth Nebbiolo 2013 $32 Grove Estate vineyard, Hilltops, NSW Piedmont’s nebbiolo grape teases with a promise, seldom realised, of sublime, elegant reds, supposedly smelling of tar and roses and offering intense flavours coupled with the mighty tannic grip of a blacksmith’s handshake. On the point of despair some 20 years ago, we finally saw the … Continue reading Wine review – Ravensworth, Fox Gordon, Saltram, Scarborough, Wolf Blass and Main Ridge
In late 2009, in the back of a taxi headed for the Macedon wine show, Winewise magazine’s Lester Jesberg outlined his ambitions for a grand final of Australian wine judging events. Jesberg’s idea was to hold a “best of the best” competition, inviting only gold medallists from Australia’s national shows, selected regional wine shows and … Continue reading Winewise Championship sifts for nuggets
The Rhone Valley white variety, viognier, is and will remain a niche variety, representing around two per cent of total white plantings in Australia. Nevertheless, it remains an important variety, principally because of its close relationship to our national red hero, shiraz. The relationship is both genetic and vinous. In Wine Grapes (Penguin Group, 2012), … Continue reading Viognier — genetic and vinous buddy of shiraz
Gaelic Cemetery Vineyard Riesling 2012 $20 Gaelic Cemetery Vineyard, Clare Valley, South Australia Well-known Clare Valley winemaker Neil Pike makes two rieslings from Grant Arnold’s Gaelic Cemetery Vineyard, five kilometres north of Clare township. The first reviewed, today is made in a fresh, fruity style for current drinking; the second, for review next week, treads … Continue reading Wine review — Gaelic Cemetary, Brand’s Laira, Montalto, Richmond Grove and Cumulus
Is Ken Helm pushing it up hill? Or does cabernet really have a future in Canberra? I mean not just as a nice wine – but in the sense, as Helm sees it, that it might snap at the heals of our regional top dog, shiraz? Releasing his 2009 vintage recently, Helm wrote, “Cabernet sauvignon … Continue reading Is it worth talking up Canberra cabernet?
Bay of Fires Pinot Gris 2011 $24.69–$36.50 Lower and upper Derwent and Coal River Valley, Tasmania Yeah, right, we thought as we read the press release. James Halliday must be losing the plot – giving the chairman’s trophy at the Tasmanian Wine Show to a pinot gris. How could a second-tier variety knock off the state’s … Continue reading Wine review — Bay of Fires, Madfish, Angullong, Bloodwood and Main Ridge Estate
Whoosh! There goes 2011. What a year. Foster’s decided grape and grain didn’t mix; Constellation Brands USA sold the historic Leasingham winery to Clare winemaker, Tim Adams; Woolworths and Coles share of domestic wine sales hit 79 per cent; and winemakers across eastern Australia endured the coldest, wettest vintage in over a decade. Under these … Continue reading Whoosh! There goes 2011