• Starvedog Lane Chardonnay 2005

    Starvedog Lane Chardonnay (Adelaide Hills, SA)Screwcap, $23 What a relief this wine was. After a run of disappointing Chardies (not least the Jacobs Creek Reeves Point earlier in the week, an…

  • Deutz Marlborough Cuvee NV

    Duetz Marlborough Cuvee NV (Marlborough, NZ) Cork, $25 Is it Deutz – sounds like dirtz or is it Deutz – sounds like doy-itz? Or is it Dew-tz?However it is pronounced, its…

  • Jacobs Creek ‘Reeves Point’ Chardonnay 2004

    Jacobs Creek Reeves Point Chardonnay 2004 (Multi Region Blend) Screwcap, $30 (approx) The relevance of Reeves Point? Its apparently where (Orlando founder) Johann Gramp first landed in Australia. This has won…

  • Weekend Drinking 9th November

    The theme here is simple – three wines, all freely available, all sitting between the $16 and $18 mark (or cheaper on special). I know where my money would be going…

  • Gramps Botrytis Semillon 2006

    Gramps Botrytis Semillon (Riverina, NSW) Screwcap, $20 Gramps is another quiet achiever from the Orlando stable – the reds are almost uniformly fine value for money and can pull off some…

  • Handpicked Piedmont Moscato D’ Asti

    Handpicked Moscato D’Ast (Piedmont, Italy) Screwcap, $10 (off the Handpicked website) This is a genuine Italian Moscato, yet produced by the Australian Handpicked operation of Peter Douglas & Dominique Portet. It’s…

  • Ballast Stone RMS Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

    Ballast Stone RMS Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (Mclaren Vale, SA)Cork, $42 Apparently this picked up a silver (Best in class) at the IWSC. Produced off 60yr old+ vines in Mclaren Vale. Spent…

  • Tesch Karthauser Riesling 2007

    Tesch Karthauser Riesling 2007 (Nahe, Germany)Screwcap, $30 KARTHAUSER: SOUTH-EAST FACING SLOP. RED WEATHERED ROCK. THE RIESLING: MULTILAYERED AND EXPRESSIVEDR MARTIN TESCH If ever there was a German poster boy for terroir,…

  • Dr Loosen Bernkastler Lay Riesling 2007

    Dr Loosen Bernkasteler Lay Riesling Kabinett 2007 (Mosel, Germany)Screwcap, $30Thai Beef Salad. Its a delicious dish that, when done well, matches crunchy fresh salad with warming spicy beef. One of our…

  • WINE EXPERIMENT: Gaja Sito Moresco 2006 – Tasted over a week

    Gaja Sito Moresco 2006 (Langhe, Italy)Cork, $36 (375ml)Like all wine geeks, I like the odd wine experiment. Unusual blends, bizarre wine and food matches or sticking wines in the cellar to…

  • Balgownie Estate Bendigo Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

    Balgownie Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 (Bendigo, Vic)Screwcap, $30 This is the last wine in the Balgownie range that I have tasted and by far the best. In my opinion this dry…

  • Balgownie Estate Bendigo Shiraz 2005

    Balgownie Estate Shiraz 2005 (Bendigo, Vic) Screwcap, $30 An old label truly back on song thanks to a much needed cash injection. Good stuff. This Shiraz is dark red with quite…