• Xanadu Dragon Shiraz & Cabernet Merlot 2005

    Xanadu Dragon Shiraz & Cabernet Merlot – both 2005 – (Frankland River & Great Southern, WA) Screwcap, $16 approx ‘Xanadu, Xanadu ooo. In Xanadu’ Damn you Oliva Newton John. I bet…

  • An unnatural closure experience

    Tonight I opened up a D’Arenberg Cadenzia GSM 2004 which was sealed with a ‘Zork’ plastic closure. For those not familiar with a Zork, it is a plastic cork that still…

  • Tyrrells Stevens Shiraz 2006

    Tyrrells Stevens Shiraz 2006 (Hunter Valley, NSW) Screwcap, $28The 2006 red vintage, it has to be said, is one underrated prospect in the Hunter Valley. Sandwiched between the dry (and hence…

  • Market Drivel

    This appeared on the Herald Sun website – I can’t being to say how appalled I was at the short sided ideas and recommendations contained below. AUSTRALIA’S wine industry appears set…

  • The Future of Australian Winemaking may live in the Yarra Valley

    Today I attended a tasting put on by ‘South Pack’ – a group of small, artisan Victorian producers, with a skew towards the Yarra Valley. South Pack includes Luke Lambert, the…

  • Bridgewater Mill Chardonnay 2005

    Bridgewater Mill Chardonnay 2005 (Adelaide Hills, SA)Cork $20 The sooner we stop making wines like this, the better. It’s everything that is bad about Chardonnay and the sort of style that…

  • Jansz Vintage Pinot Chardonnay 2003

    Jansz Vintage Pinot Chardonnay 2003Cork, $40I think if you served this up blind with some mainstream, lower end French Champagne (Lanson, Piper etc) it would shit all over them. There are…

  • Brettanomyces – friend or foe?

    Brett – It is the buzz word of the wine industry. Every winemaker fears it, every show judge hunts it and everyone else talks about it. But one winemaker is embracing…

  • Luke Lambert Nebbiolo 2007

    Luke Lambert Nebbiolo 2007 (Heathcote, Vic)Cork (with sexy wax capsule), $35 Without opening this, its obvious that Luke Lambert has a lot of love for his wine (or at least is…

  • Wittmann Estate Riesling Trocken 2007

    Wittmann Estate Riesling Trocken 2007 (Rheinhessen, Germany)Screwcap, $30Of all the German dry Rieslings consumed recently, this came across as the ‘driest’ – the most traditional dry Riesling and certainly the least…

  • Wild Rock Sauvignon Blanc 2007

    Wild Rock ‘Infamous Goose’ Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (Marlborough, NZ)Screwcap, $19From what I understand, this comes from the Craggy Range empire. It would be an interesting exercise to try this with the…

  • Evans & Tate Margaret River Merlot 2007

    Evans & Tate Merlot 2007 (Margaret River, WA) Screwcap, $20This picked up a trophy (Best Merlot) at the 2008 Royal Queensland Wine Show & another at the Perth Wine Show. It’s…