White Wine
Bannockburn Chardonnay
Stuck at home and thinking about the possibility of starting a cellar when this COVID is over?
Take Away Foods and drink matching
Wondering what to match with your take away food whilst all this madness is happeniig?
Angullong Wines
About 350kms west of Sydney, and 35kms south of Orange, nestled in the foothills of Mount Canobolas sits the vineyards for Angullong Wines. It’s one of the largest vineyards in the area with a total of 220 hectares or 550 acres under vine. The property has been in the Crossing family since 1950 and has been run as a successful sheep and cattle station prior to diversifying into grape growing...
Campo Viejo
Its not often that I see samples of imports, but a few weeks ago we sat down to what is probably the best known name in Rioja wine. Campo Viejo, Spain’s Winery of the Year, (now fully imported by Pernod Ricard) has won its the sixth Winery of the Year award, cementing their place as the “go to” Rioja wine, the region best known for its Tempranillo. But its been at the cutting edg...
Chateau Tanunda
Chateau Tanunda is one of those names that have been synonymous with wine in Australia, especially the Barossa. Constructed in the late 1880’s by some of the first winemaker’s in the Barossa, its vineyards are home to some of the oldest plantings in the Barossa, dating back to the 1840’s, and its Chateau is Australia’s largest and oldest wine Chateau. Built 40 metres into a Tanunda hillside to pro...
Magic Box Wines
I’ve often remarked in these columns how marketing departments dictate what wines the winery make. Sometimes I think they get it wrong, the marketers are aiming for a certain segment and just miss it. It’s either a touch too soon, too late or the final product they are aiming for just didn’t line up with what was available for the winemakers to work with. But every now and again they get it right,...
John Duval Wines
Is there life after working for the big names of wine making, after all the trophies and media about your big name wines? You bet there is, and unsurprisingly it involves making more trophy winning wines. John Duval had a stellar career at Penfolds, including a 16 year long stint as the Chief Winemaker, responsible for the crafting of Penfolds world renowned Grange. Under his guidance, Penfolds we...
Healthy Drinking? Does it exist?
Drinking healthy? The phrase sounds like an oxymoron, however every time I look at the news there seems to be some new link with health and alcohol, a glass of wine here or a gin there and suddenly we all live to a ripe old age. It’s all rather hard to believe, but I slept through most of my high school biology classes. I personally think that the key here, as with anything in life, is moderation....