Budburst is back for another fabulous weekend. Taking place on Saturday and Sunday, November 15 and 16, this is a once-a-year opportunity to go beyond the cellar door, sip rare wines not found anywhere else, and meet the passionate people who craft some of Australia’s most exciting cool-climate wines. Over two festival days, more than […]
with Clive Hartley Shiraz on the nose ‘Man the barricades!’ and prepare to defend Australian shiraz. In the recently published National Vintage Report for 2024 white grapes increased to 51% of the national crush and was higher than red grapes for the first time in a decade. A decline in shiraz production was the cause, […]
Italian feast – a wealth of opportunities to taste some wonderfully different wines. That is the joy of choosing Italian grape varieties and I’ve recently been able to see a good cross section of wines made in Australia. It might be too chilly at the moment, but you could try some Australian prosecco. My recommendation […]
with Clive Hartley Place of Changing Winds growers series Place of Changing Winds vineyard is located between Mt Macedon and Mt Bullengarook in the Macedon Ranges. Different clones of pinot noir and chardonnay vines were planted between 2012 and 2018. Everything in the vineyard is a well thought-out plan to produce the best quality that […]
Tour Europe via Canberra – a capital with wine The Canberra District is a wine region that often flies under the radar but is well worth visiting. Most of the vineyards are actually in NSW. It has an eclectic array of grape varieties but is known for shiraz viognier blends made famous by Clonakilla. It […]
Yarra Valley The Good Food and Wine Show will be held at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre from today May 31 to June 2. Three days to overindulge yourself with hundreds of food and wine exhibitors. There are demonstrations and masterclasses including a Riedel wine glass experience and a beginners’ Champagne class. I went […]
White wine with steak It is not something I’d normally recommend, serving a white wine (chardonnay) with steak, but I had it the other night and it made a comparatively good match. Normally, choosing what wine to have with a dish can be as simple as applying long-established rules such as white with fish and […]
with Clive Hartley Yangarra’s Rhône Crusade Winemaker Peter Fraser from Yangarra Estate in the McLaren Vale is passionate about some grape varieties you might not be too familiar with. His white wine is simply called ‘Blanc’ and is a blend of grenache blanc (80%) with splattering of roussanne, bourboulenc, clairette, grenache gris and piquepoul blanc. […]
