Bragging is something I am no fan of, preferring modesty and straight talking over promotion any day. But on this occasion I’m going to talk the opportunity to talk myself up, partly because I can, and also because, quite simply, I’m excited.

Why am I excited? As of this week I am officially a published wine writer.

It’s a pretty modest start, under 200 words after the editors chop, and squeezed in amongst a swathe of other wine news items, but it has the most important element – my name below it.

It feels great.

What’s most interesting though is the realisation of how far behind most of the accomplished writers in the magazine I still am. That may sound like some sort of crap post-modern self depreciation, but writing an article for an audience such as those who read GT WINE, without sounding like a tosser, is really challenging.

I now look at the effortless wisdom of Huon Hooke or the playfulness of Nick Ryan with an entirely new appreciation of how much of an art form the whole wine writing malarkey is.

Anyway, self promotion over, please pickup a copy of the February/March Gourmet Traveller WINE (out this week) and check out my little piece on page 10, if purely to check out the picture of the lovely Holm Oak Moscato I wrote about (which is well worth a look).