barefoot
Peter Lehmann VSV
In 2014, the family behind one of Australia’s most successful wine brands, [yellow tail], purchased the famous Barossa winery Peter Lehmann Wines from Swiss based The Hess Group. It followed the death of Peter Lehmann in 2013, who had founded the winery in 1979. It continues the rise and rise of Casella Family Brands, who produced their first bottle of wine in 1969 at their Farm 1471 near Griffith...
What the hell is a “Summer” beer?
Most sports are broken up into summer and winter: Cricket for summer, rugby for winter for example. Whilst I firmly believe that beer is a 365 days of the year sport, there are definite times of the year when some beer work and some don’t. No-one has ever finished mowing their yard in Australia in the middle of January and said “what I need now is a pint thirst quenching stout”, they reach for the...
The Rise and Rise of Japanese Whisky
Japanese whisky was once considered a bit of a novelty, with the Scottish Whiskies taking centre stage, and Irish and American whiskies (Bourbon is a whisky) being the main backing dancers. That all changed a few years ago when the God of World Whisky, Jim Murray, named the Yamazaki Sherry Cask Single Malt 2013 as the best whisky in the world in his 2015 Whisky Bible. Such is the respect for Jim’s...
Brouhaha Brewery
Brouhaha: /ˈbruːhɑːhɑː/; noun; a noisy and overexcited reaction or response to something Hidden away in the Sunshine Coast hinterland is the small town of Maleny, with its awe inspiring views of the Glass House Mountains, the Maleny Dairies and Gardners Falls that are, at least to this FNQ lad, brass monkey cold. Maleny is also home to brewpub Brouhaha Brewery, a place that ...
Best of 2018
With the year nearly over its time to look take a good hard look through the bottom of the empty glass at the year that was. There’s been a few noticeable trends this year, some of which have actually lined up with my predictions from the end of last year – that rosé will continue its steady rise and broaden its flavour profile to make wines that men will happily drink during summer, and that beer...
Botham Wines
I’m a bit of a cricket tragic. I’m one of “those” people that can sit there and watch a five day test very happily. I think what I love about the game so much is that it’s one of the few, if not the only game, where everyone will sledge the opposition player, but then applaud that same player loudly for a well-played shot, or when that person rockets a near unplayable ball down the pitch and you h...
Real World Tastings
I often remark on here about how when we taste wine around at our regular “Wet Wednesday” sessions that its quite different from how we judge a wine, or beers for that fact, at competitions. At a Wine Show you are taking a sip of the wine, aerating it a bit, and spitting, you’re looking at colour, flavour profiles, tannin and acid structure, mouthfeel and finish to name just a few points. Jotting...
Pirate Life Brewing
Just over four years ago, Pirate life Brewing (PLB) burst onto the Australian scene. They took award after award on, not only the local scene, but also the international stage with their Aussie slant on their beers, creating beers that not only excited, but also challenged the palates of beer drinkers globally, whilst still working with the tastebuds back home. The story starts in the bitter cold ...
Serve Sparkling like a Pro this Christmas
The warm weather signals two things …Christmas is just around the corner, and the inevitable Battle of the Bubbles is about to hit its stride. It’s also the time when everyone starts to look at their budgets for the upcoming Christmas, and starts trying to work out how they can afford it after dropping all their cash at the nags during the spring racing season. Sparkling wine has always been...
St Hugo The Unspoken Promise 2014
Last year St. Hugo released the first annual release in their decade long “Legacy Collection”, a collection of super premium wines that will vary from year to year in varieties, blends etc. The Legacy Collection pays homage to the rich and compelling stories of the Gramp family, particularly Hugo Gramp who was killed in the Kyeema air crash in 1938. Not only did the crash take the life of Gramp wh...
Wine Fridge 101
Summer is just around the corner and it gets anyone that has a wine collection, or is thinking of starting a wine collection, or heck, even just wants to be able to save a few bob and buy their wine by the carton, starts thinking about how to store the collection. Not all of us have a wine cellar, in fact what I refer to as my cellar is actually a spot under the stairs that has a three wine fridge...
Single Hop beers….beer’ducation or is it all gobbledegook?
Hops play a crucial role in the creation of good beer. They provide aromas, bitterness and flavour, depending at what time the hops are added, whether they are dry or wet, and pellets or whole cones will all make a difference on the final result. Usually a range of hops are used, as each hop variety will impart different qualities. For example some hops provide more flavour and little aroma, othe...