Cloudburst is a really interesting and slightly controversial wine project in Margaret River. Interesting? Because the wines are so good. Controversial? Because of high prices, despite the lack of any…
Vinteloper Odeon Pinot Noir 2012 Adelaide Hills
Dave Bowley, the Vinteloper, came round to dinner. And he bought this: one of the best Australian Pinot Noirs that I have tasted. It’s from a single Vineyard in Lenswood,…
Lunch with Mac Forbes
Mac Forbes was in town so we lunched at 28:50 in Maddox Street. I’ve long been a fan of his wines, and wrote about him at length here. But I can’t…
Wakefield The Pioneer Shiraz and The Visionary Cabernet Sauvignon
Wakefield, known in Australia as Taylors, are a leading Clare Valley producer, and they have recently begun making two very high-end wines: The Pioneer Shiraz and The Visionary Cabernet Sauvignon….
Penfolds Bin 707 1993
This is a wine I bought back in the 1990s from a UK supermarket for around £16 (it was on offer). How times have changed! Current releases are super-expensive. This…
A taste of the Barossa, back to 1967
A lovely tasting this afternoon at Philglas & Swiggot in Battersea. It was an interesting set of Barossa wines, presented by James March of the Barossa Wine and Grape Association,…
Cricket, a five-for and a Vinteloper
Played wine trade cricket today. First game of the season, versus Fullers, at Chiswick Park. It’s such a pretty ground, quintessentially English and fringed with trees. The only problem: retrieving…
Amery Vineyards Block 6 Shiraz 1989
My wine trade buddy Greg Sherwood brought this wine around to dinner, and served it blind. It was a real treat. I reckoned it was properly old, and new world,…
Luke Lambert Nebbiolo, a new Australian classic
This is amazing! Nebbiolo is a difficult traveller – a grape variety that really struggles to perform well away from its Piedmont home. But Luke Lambert has created a new…