barefoot
Iconic Wirra Wirra
Iconic…..its a word that gets bandied about a heck of a lot, often it’s used simply because someone wants to say something nice about a block of flats or an ageing building, and calls them “iconic”. But it’s a word that probably sits quite well when you throw out names like “Wirra Wirra” or “Greg Trott”, the man responsible for resurrecting Wirra Wirra from being a lost and abandoned winery to the...
“Dear Australian Riesling, Don’t ever, ever change.”
If I had to pick one style of wine to enjoy for the rest of my life it would be Riesling. No, seriously, it would be Riesling, I’m almost certain that the world would be a better place if more people drank Riesling, there’s even several unconfirmed reports of Riesling curing illnesses….again, seriously. It’s one of the greatest joys in wine, and yet it’s still one of the most misunderstood wines, ...
Mt Uncle Distillery
Inland from Cairns, about ten minutes out of Mareeba sits Mt Uncle Distillery, a site that’s been in the news a bit lately for cracking the huge British market and selling their gin, that has an Australian twist, to the poms. Mt Uncle has been on our radars for a long time now, originally producing exotic fruit liqueurs, vodka and an interesting marshmallow vodka liqueur where the marshmallows are...
How to Start a Cellar….
Wondering how to actually go about starting that cellar? Here's a few tips.
Evans and Tate
Few wineries have been to the brink and back like Evans and Tate have. Their story starts just over forty years ago when, in 1974, two mates John Evans and John Tate, and their wives Jan and Toni, find the perfect site to build their dream vineyard on the banks of the Wilyabrup River in the Margaret River region of WA. In 1975 they planted out their first vineyard, naming it Redbrook, and set abou...
Flametree Wines
Back in 2007 Apple released the first iPhone , a product that took the world by storm. The Melbourne Storm won not only the minor premiership but also the grand Finals when they defeated, or should I say embarrassed, Manly 34-8. And over in WA’s Geographe Bay, the area that leads into the Margret River area, the Towner family were setting up a little winery called Flametree Wines were opening thei...
Brooklyn Brewery
Mid-way through 2015, Australia’s last remaining family owned, large scale brewer, Coopers Brewery, struck a deal with New York City’s Brooklyn Brewery to brew under licence and distribute Brooklyn’s beer in Australia, basically Coopers were to brew Brooklyn Lager locally, and import the Brown Ale and East IPA from the States. It’s not the first time the two companies have worked together, in fac...
Robert Stein new Riesling releases
Many years ago the area of Mudgee fell off the wine radar for a lot of people, and for some reason it has struggled to come back. I’ve heard people say that’s because the wines coming from the region aren’t great, they are too hit and miss or they aren’t as expressive as some of the other wine regions of Australia. I think those people have had their head in the sand over the past few years as the...
Oaked Sauvignon Blanc
Most people tend to think of Sauvignon Blanc as an un-oaked wine, but some of the most interesting sauv blancs that are floating around on the shelves in the local bottleshop these days, are the ones that have seen time in oak barrels. The use of oak in sauv blanc has been creeping back in over the last decade or so, and its not surprising because, winemakers, like the rest of us, can get a little...
Endeavour TRUE Vintage
A few years ago I looked at the range of beers coming out of Sydney’s Endeavour Beer Company. I remember talking via emails with the brewer and part owner Andy Stewart at the time, discussing how these beers could hold a little bit of bottle age, and evolve in the bottle. They had sent a couple of samples of their 2010 and 2011 releases of each of their two beers at the time, the True Vintage Pale...
Huntington Estate
Its not often that I like to review a wine that isn’t available at your local bottleshop. But every now and again I come across a wine label that is available direct from the winery, that is worth getting a few mates together to buy a carton or mixed dozen with. Huntington Estate in NSW Mudgee district is just that sort of winery. Huntington Estate was established in 1969 by Bob and Wendy Roberts,...