Chardonnay
Bannockburn Chardonnay
Stuck at home and thinking about the possibility of starting a cellar when this COVID is over?
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...
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,...
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...
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...
Aussie Chard
Australian Chardonnay is going through a bit of a purple patch at the moment. Some of the best wine writers in the world are comparing our most exciting chards to premier grand cru White Burgundy. During the 80’s chardonnay was all the rage, then suddenly everyone got bored with the same buttery, oaky “sunshine in a bottle” that we were getting. It fell from grace so quickly, entire vineyards were...