This is was my drinking on Sunday night. I arrived in Adelaide late Saturday, jet-lagged as hell, and promptly crashed, sleeping through until Sunday morning. Then I woke early, breakfasted,…
In Adelaide: discussing wine science with a taxi driver
So, I rolled into Adelaide airport at 8 pm on Sunday night, after a long flight from London via Dubai. On the plane I alternated between sleeping, working, and listening:…
The Riesling Rendezvous 2016, Seattle, Washington State
Three days in Seattle. So much Riesling! The fifth annual Riesling Rendezvous was in town, and I attended it for the first time. Riesling is a grape that has had…
Two lovely biodynamic Sauvignon Blancs: Waterkloof and Churton
Opened this pair. One from South Africa and one from New Zealand. Both biodynamic. Both pretty compelling, and perhaps not what you’d immediately expect from Sauvignon Blanc. This is a…
Suilven Chardonnay 2015 Adelaide Hills
This is the latest release from Thistledown, a collaboration between Giles Cooke, Fergal Tynan and Peter Leske, based in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia. Suilven is a beautifully packaged,…
Extended tasting note: Domaine Lucci Spring Red 2015, natural goodness from Anton
I haven’t done an extended tasting note for a while. These are notes that attempt to look a little deeper at a wine, putting the drinking experience in context. This…
Some reflections on ProWein 2016: bubbly Brits, grower Champagne, Canada, Provence and Grenache
ProWein is a massive wine and spirits fair, held each year in Dusseldorf, Germany. It’s enormous. 6200 exhibitors, and 55 000 trade visitors. I’ve just returned, and these are some…
Our Fathers Barossa Shiraz 2014
Our Fathers is a small production Barossa Shiraz made by Giles Cooke MW of Alliance wine. The inspiration for this wine was that Giles wanted to give something back. In…
Tolpuddle Vineyard 2014 Pinot and 2013 Chardonnay
I wrote up the first releases of these wines – the 2012s – just over two years ago. Now it’s time to look at some more recent releases. Seriously impressive…