Francoise & Denis Clair Cotes de Beaune Village 2009 Following on from our All The Pinots tastings a good friend had their 40th Birthday. So naturally a bottle of Burgundy was the order of the day. The heart of Burgundy is known as the Cote d’Or (Golden Slope) and this wine could be sourced from anywhere in the Southern … Read more
It was 5.59pm on Tuesday and I took a call from Matthew Hanson who I have chatted to regularly for well over 5 years now and who runs Fine Wine Appreciation Melbourne http://www.finewineappreciation.com.au/ . He said he had a last minute withdrawal from his William Downie dinner so would I like to come along? “It starts at 7pm” he added. I had … Read more
WINE OF THE WEEKPatrizi Moscato d’Asti 2011 – One of my (surprisingly) favourite wines from the Piedmont Dinner I hosted in May http://winedep.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/piedmont-dinner-and-masterclass-at.html Patrizi Moscato d’Asti Moscato is the traditional way to cleanse the palate after a meal before getting stuck into the Grappa (which is what we did). I was a hint sceptical at … Read more
Bordeaux is one of my favourite wine regions, through the years I have been able to taste more of these wines than any others (except maybe Burgundy). You can see some of my recent Bordeaux encounters here. The Region of Bordeaux and its appellations. Cabernet Sauvignon Background of Bordeaux. The region is most famous for its savoury, structured … Read more
Originally publishing in TWD’s Magazine on March, April and May. This is my thoughts on drinking sweet wines. Loire Valley Chenin – King of the Sweet wines? It polarises people no end. A lot of people refuse to consider a wine if there is any hint of sugar. But sweet wine is a valid and … Read more
Having missed one month due to work pressures, the Mezzo crowd were all pretty keen to catch up and taste some seriously good wine. And we were far from disappointed despite cork playing a starring role in two of the wines. CURSE YOU VILE THINGS! This month the theme was 2004 Burgundy, a vintage that … Read more
Tempranillo is a Spanish variety, perhaps the Spanish variety. It is grown all over Spain and Portugal (under various and confusing local names) and produces wines from light and fresh Roses, tart and fruity unoaked reds to dense, complex and structured reds that sit somewhere between and rival Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhone or Piedmont. I was recently able … Read more
Today is my 30th Birthday. What better way to celebrate then tasting some of my favourite Australian wines? That’s right, on my birthday I was willing to brave inclement weather and bad Melbourne traffic to taste wines – so they would have be special. And I wasn’t disappointed. These wines are for sale and wines I … Read more
Last week a friend from paintball, Rob, decided to take me wine touring as an early birthday present. Well, that’s what he claims, but it was school holidays…. Maybe he just wanted to leave the house? Either way, it was good fun. He chose two wineries, I chose two and away we went. Redbox – … Read more
A brief discussion (I could go on a lot longer!) about glassware and how it makes a difference to your wine tasting/drinking experience. Originally featured in TWD Magazine January and February Issues. Does glassware make a difference? The answer is yes, no and maybe. The hardest part about glassware is a lot of it comes down to personal preference, although it is … Read more
A memorable night for two reasons – some truly amazing wines, and the fact that two people pulled out last minute so there was a lot more wine than we needed. The plus side was there was no real disappointments, the downside was it was hard to decide what not to drink. We started of course with … Read more
First published on Tuesday, 30 December 2008 on www.ieatidrinkiwork.com.au What a handsome fellow he is. After the initial buzz of being given a magnum of Lanson 1982 died away, I realised the person who had given me the present had also created quite a serious problem. What do I do with 1500ml of vintage … Read more
A nice relaxing lunch yesterday at Mr Bianco in Kew was a great excuse to pull out a bottle that had been burning a hole in my cellar. We started with a bottle of the Frankland Estate Isolation Ridge Riesling 2010 – You’ve no doubt heard me go on (and on) about it before, but it is stunning. Here are … Read more
Imagine coming back from holiday and a supplier asking if you’d like to attend a large Riesling tasting featuring some of the best German producers (with a few ring ins). Well that is what happened, and feeling myself Riesling to the occasion of course I said “Oh God yes!”. It is after all the best … Read more
I was recently invited to attend a tasting that contained the best and brightest of Martinborough on New Zealands North Island. Sadly, I have not been there myself, although it sounds like one of those places I will have to make the pilgrimage to at some point in my life. Martinborough, a sub-region of the Wairarapa … Read more
A little while ago I purchased a couple of crates of old wines from Australia. They were cheap and came with no guarantees where they had been kept or what shape they were in. I’ve had a few wines that were good enough to warrant the price of the whole purchase and I have slowly … Read more
Recently I was lucky enough to have lunch at the RACV club and no lunch there would be complete without some amazing wines. Bass Phillip Rose – Dry, spicy and savoury. Nice elegance and texture. Really freshing and really moreish. The best I have seen this wine in ages taste wise. Not so sure about the new packaging … Read more
Wine lists can sometimes be like a Dan Brown novel, loosely based on fact and surprisingly popular. Sometimes they are great and sometimes they are not. Like a Dan Brown novel you have to read it before you can tell if you like it or not. This article will hopefully give you a few tips … Read more
Originally feature in our TWD Magazine (Sign Up here) October and November 2011 issues. The questing a lot of budding wine collectors will ask while tasting a wine is: “is it cellarable?” I do bang on a lot about cellaring wine. You’ve all probably heard me talk about it or read how good and important it is. … Read more