Padthaway began as broadacre plantings in the 1960s to feed the coming wine boom. For the first 20 years the region had no winery and no name. In those days ‘Keppoch’ did just as well as ‘Padthaway’. But now it’s one of the major players on the vast Limestone plains stretching south from Lake Alexandrina to Coonawarra and beyond.
Padthaway has emerged as one of Australia’s most important broadacre grape sources
The cool, wet 1993 vintage didn’t prove to be the disaster expected in Coonawarra and Padthaway. Whites in particular look good
Published in The Canberra Times 23 June 2002 The dazzling explosion of Australia’s wine industry is nowhere better seen than at Langhorne Creek, near Lake Alexandrina, South Australia. What was once home to a few small to mid sized wine producers and grape growers, with combined plantings of just 400 hectares of vines in 1992, is … Continue reading 111 years on Langhorne Creek’s Metala vineyard still pumps out a winner
An insider’s view of the Australian wine industry and the Jacob’s Creek brand Transcription of an interview with Phil Laffer, Canberra, 16 March 2006 Jacob’s Creek people The winemakers If you’re going to be a good winemaker you have to be passionate about it. And that means passion about wine, food, people vines and a … Continue reading The Phil Laffer tapes – part 2
An insider’s view of the Australian wine industry and one of its successful brands The following is a transcript of my interview with Phil Laffer at Roland Flat, Barossa Valley, 14 March 2006. The interview was one of two I conducted with Phil for the production of The view from our place, a booklet released in … Continue reading The Phil Laffer tapes
WHITES Bin 51 Eden Valley Riesling 2018 $40 Maturation:Three months, stainless steel. Pale, green-tinted straw colour; pure, citrus-like riesling aroma, precisely mirrored on an intense, powerful but very finely-textured palate, backed by assertive acid. An invigorating drink now in its fruity youth, Bin 51 also has potential to gain rich secondary flavours and texture with … Continue reading Wine review – the Penfolds collection 2018
Led by a sensational Grange vintage, Penfolds will release its 2016 collection across Australia on Thursday 20 October. The predictably impressive line up, includes many highlights: Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2015, Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz 2014, Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2014, Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz 2014, Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2014, RWT Barossa … Continue reading Sensational 2012 Grange leads Penfolds 2016 releases
Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 – wine of the week Moss Wood vineyard, Wilyabrup, Margaret River, Western Australia $95–$125 Moss Wood cabernet rates among Australia’s greatest wines. It’s of a quality Hemingway surely had in mind when he wrote, “Wine is one of the most civilised things in the world and one of the most … Continue reading Wine review – Moss Wood, Grove Estate, Lerida Estate, Mr Riggs, Mount Monster, Greywacke
Gramp and Son St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 – wine of the week Coonawarra and Barossa, South Australia $55 In the fickle world of corporate wine marketing, St Hugo began life in the 1980s as a Coonawarra cabernet under the Orlando banner. Early this century, it joined cellar mate Jacob’s Creek’s portfolio in a failed … Continue reading Wine review – Gramp and Son St Hugo, Penfolds, Pikes, Ross Hill, Red Knot, Jim Barry