Wine’s not a living thing but it can have personality. Clearly the more idiosyncratic a wine is, the more likely it is to stand out and be recognisable, even in a masked tasting. At times highly distinctive wines challenge our senses, or simply need time, sometimes decades, to reveal their best. As drinkers it might … Continue reading Wines with individuality
How did five stonemason brothers come to make Canberra’s new five-star beer? Mick Strickland says it started with a Pilzen beer recipe acquired by a great-something grandfather on the Ballarat goldfields in the 1850s. About ten years ago the Stricklands found the recipe, written in German, in the spine of their grandmother’s bible. Later, they … Continue reading Strickland brothers launch beautiful new beer in Canberra
The late Douglas Lamb, wine merchant and bon vivant, delighted in serving Cognac balloons of single malt whisky to dinner guests. The power of suggestion being so great, few twigged to Lamb’s little trick. Indeed, they often congratulated Lamb on a fine Cognac selection. Presumably Lamb served one of the less peaty malts, perhaps The … Continue reading In quest of a good malt whisky
Thanks to my old friend, Jeremy Stockman for collaborating on this feature. Jeremy is a wine show judge, wine consultant and former fine wine buyer for Vintage Cellars WHY WE CELLAR AND CONDITIONS FOR CELLARING Chris Shanahan There’s terrific pleasure in cellaring wine, whether for two years or twenty. It’s about savouring the lovely changes … Continue reading Cellaring for pleasure
Moppity Vineyards Hilltops Riesling 2010 $23 Moppity’s cheaper sibling, Lock and Key Riesling 2010, won the trophy as best riesling at the recent Winewise Small Vignerons Awards. The more expensive wine walked away without a medal. But it’s unquestionably the better wine of the two with its lovely floral aroma, fresh, intense lime-like varietal flavour … Continue reading Wine review — Moppity Vineyards, Bowen Estate and Rutherglen Estates
Propagandists in the French wine industry portray Australia as one big, hot, homogenous country pumping out vast quantities of “industrial” wine. While our export success with bright, fresh, affordable varietals – largely at the expense of French producers – might be partly to blame for this perception, it’s as far from the truth as a … Continue reading Extraordinary diversity in Oz wines
Riesling in Australia – the history, the regions, the legends, and the producers Ken Helm and Trish Burgess. Published by Winetitles, South Australia, 2010. $49.50 plus postage at Winetitles. Spike Milligan might have called “Riesling in Australia” a book of bits, or a bit of a book. Written by Ken Helm and Trish Burgess, the … Continue reading Book review — “Riesling in Australia”
Rutherglen Estate Fiano 2009 $21.95 Rutherglen, Victoria A number of Australian vignerons, mainly in hotter regions, now grow fiano, a white native of Italy’s warm, dry Campania region. Rutherglen Estate’s well made 2009, its second vintage, gives a good impression of what to expect from the variety. It’s clean, fresh, zesty, richly textured and dry. … Continue reading Wine review — Rutherglen Estate, Teusner, Printhie, West End, Campbells and Cape Mentelle
The Hilltops wine region, centred on Young, an hour and a half’s drive north from here, emerged at about the same time as Canberra’s. In 1969, just two years before CSIRO Drs John Kirk and Edgar Riek planted vines, independently of one another, at Murrumbateman and Lake George, cherry farmer, the late Peter Robertson, established … Continue reading Hilltops flies solo
Moss Wood ‘Moss Wood Vineyard’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 $90–$100 Margaret River, Western Australia This is a class act from one of Margaret River’s original and great vineyards, founded by Bill and Sandra Pannell in 1969 and later taken over by Keith and Clare Mugford. It’s blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and petit verdot – … Continue reading Wine review — Moss Wood, Chateau Les Maurins, Barwang, Ravensworth and Shelmerdine