by Glenn Barry
More news on what is looking like a tricky 2011 vintage in Australia, this time from new Knappstein winemaker Glenn Barry who is in charge of a Clare Valley vintage for the first time…
Well what a vintage to start my new gig as winemaker at Knappstein. When arriving in Clare …
by Dan Coward, http://spitbuckets.wordpress.com/
It seems wherever you are on the globe, January is an inordinately busy time in the wine business. No sooner had my attention turned from watching endless Ashes triumphs than I was slammed with a plethora of events and launches. One of the most exciting has been the ‘Summer of Riesling’, a campaign that has …
Oh, Aussie Chardonnay! How we loved you in the 1980’s when you first burst into our Muscadet-filled lives bringing fruit, buttery barrels and echoes of sunshine where they had been enamel-stripping dryness and thoughts of damp camping holidays in France. Then in the early noughties, how we tired of your boastful, floozy charms, your loud obviousness and supermarket simplicity. It wasn’t you, it was us. We’d changed. Moved on.
by Gareth Groves
In an ideal world, I would celebrate tonight with a chilled beer or three and some seriously spicy food at the London fooderati’s Sichuan restaurant of choice: Chilli Cool. Cumin and chilli encrusted mini-lamb skewers? Yes please. Deep fried pigs’ intestines? Hell yeah. Sea-spicy aubergine? Never miss it.
However, owing to a change in recent circumstances, I’ll be at …
There are few greater pleasures in the world than Test Match Special. My idea of utter bliss is sitting in the shade on a summer day with Aggers & co on the radio, a cryptic crossword on my lap and a bottle of chilled Riesling within reach. Huddling under the covers on a freezing London night with the headphones in comes a close second. Especially when we are winning. By loads. In Australia…
By Gareth Groves
Australia’s McLaren Vale wine region is under threat from a proposed new development that would turn 177ha of land into a commercial centre with 1,200 residential homes – despite the fact the site has just been indentified as one of the most exciting for wine production in the region.
The McLaren Vale generates nearly Aus$1 billion in wine and …
Dr Phil Spillman, chief winemaker at Australia’s Deakin Estate, was in town yesterday and we met up for a tasting, chat and dinner up the road at Odettes. Phil is pretty honest about his work. He’s not trying to replicate a Montrachet or boutique Pomerol. Instead he quietly goes about his job makes commercially successful, accessible Chardonnay and Merlot that people want to drink and can regularly afford. He’s one of the unsung heroes…
by Gareth Groves
Top Western Australian winery, Howard Park have held an International Riesling Tasting for several years. It is a celebration of all things Riesling and puts their own lean, mean version up against some top examples from around the world. This year they decide to add a Pinot Noir event, with 86 tasters …
Woop! It’s a Bank Holiday weekend. Boo! It’s the last one until Christmas – and that is officially a long time away. Nevermind, after last week’s meteorological pessimism, today I have decided the glass is half full…
