Posted: November 7, 2022
AS a local general practitioner and anaesthetist, McLaren Vale vigneron Matt Brown reckons he’s found the right medicine when it comes to winemaking – especially if it involves lesser-known varieties in Australia such as carignan, montepulciano and especially tannat, the…
Comments Off on TAMING THE BEAST / 89 View / November 7, 2022
Posted: November 7, 2022
THERE is something about a beautifully cooked French meal with fine wines that instantly nourishes the soul, correspondent Winsor Dobbin reports. The arrival in Adelaide of Garcon Bleu means the City of Churches now has its own little gourmet slice…
Comments Off on FRENCH FLAIR FOR ADELAIDE / 54 View / November 7, 2022
Posted: September 1, 2022
HALF bottles of wine are perfect if you want a glass or two of white followed by a red with the main course. Unfortunately, half bottles have largely fallen out of vogue – but Clare Valley-based family winery Taylors has…
Comments Off on TAYLORS PERFECT AT HALF THE SIZE / 56 View / September 1, 2022
Posted: September 1, 2022
ONE of Melbourne’s most famous watering holes is getting a new name and a new look. Brick Lane Brewing has acquired the lease for the old Mercat Cross Hotel in the Queen Victoria Market precinct, redeveloping the old pub into…
Comments Off on FACELIFT FOR QUEEN VIC WATERING HOLE / 35 View / September 1, 2022
Posted: July 22, 2022
BEC Hardy Wines has unveiled a new South Australian gourmet experience at cellar door in McLaren Vale. The Kitchen at Bec Hardy showcases the best of local, sustainable food in a relaxed setting among the vines. With a philosophy of…
Comments Off on NEW GOURMET CELLAR DOOR EXPERIENCE / 49 View / July 22, 2022
Posted: July 22, 2022
IT’S true that no two days are the same, and even truer that no two vintages are. Covid rather than weather loomed over 2020’s harvest, 2021 had the dream combination of no covid and perfect weather, albeit with smaller yields,…
Comments Off on VINTAGE 2022 / 77 View / July 22, 2022
Posted: July 22, 2022
SIXTY years is not a long time – but in the Tasmanian wine business it is an eternity. Moorilla marked its 60th anniversary recently with a day of celebration, paying homage to the legacy of founding winemaker Claudio Alcorso. Moorilla…
Comments Off on MOORILLA’S LEGACY HONOURED / 51 View / July 22, 2022
Posted: May 15, 2022
DE BORTOLI’S iconic Noble One dessert wine is celebrating 40 years of continued success. Since its first release in 1982, Noble One has been awarded over 182 trophies and 505 gold medals globally. It is one of the most awarded…
Comments Off on 40 YEARS OF HITTING THE SWEET SPOT / 55 View / May 15, 2022
Posted: May 15, 2022
ALISTER Purbrick is standing down as head of Tahbilk – Victoria’s oldest family-owned winery. And Tahbilk has gone outside the wine industry to appoint a replacement. Tahbilk, established in 1860, has been owned and operated by the Purbrick family since…
Comments Off on TAHBILK CHANGING OF THE GUARD / 77 View / May 15, 2022
Posted: May 15, 2022
AFTER being isolated from the rest of the world, Western Australia welcomed its first international and interstate arrivals in March. Visitors can now check out the new Gage Road Brewing facility in hip and happening Fremantle, the port city just…
Comments Off on AFTER ISO BENEFIT FROM A BREW / 39 View / May 15, 2022
Posted: March 15, 2022
QUEENSLAND’S Scenic Rim region Scenic Rim was named by global travel authority Lonely Planet as one of the hottest destinations to visit in 2022. Food and wine lovers can pencil in Scenic Rim Eat Local Week from June 25 to…
Comments Off on SEE THE SCENIC RIM / 48 View / March 15, 2022
Posted: March 15, 2022
BILL Calabria AM has been recognised as the 2021 Riverina Legend at the Riverina Wine Show. Second-generation winemaker Calabria, who once fought as a professional boxer, has been a notable figure in the Riverina since first working for the family’s…
Comments Off on CALABRIA’S A LEGEND / 62 View / March 15, 2022
Posted: January 11, 2022
IT is 95 years since young Giovanni Patritti boarded a ship in Genoa, Italy, bound for an unknown future in Australia. Today, the wine brand that bears his name has just opened a new tasting room and events space in…
Comments Off on PATRITTI’S NEW TASTING ROOM & EVENTS SPACE ARRIVES / 203 View / January 11, 2022
Posted: January 11, 2022
HOBART will have a new five-star hotel and a new drinking venue with the opening of the Tasman Hotel, part of Marriott’s Luxury Collection. The Tasman will be the first Australian showcase of the Luxury Collection brand; a global collection…
Comments Off on FIVE STAR TASMAN LOCALE / 54 View / January 11, 2022
Posted: January 11, 2022
ADELAIDE’S newest gourmet destination is Garçon Bleu. With elevated city views from its location on level nine of the new Sofitel Adelaide, the 90-seat restaurant aims to serve accessible French cuisine. Garçon Bleu’s dining room boasts an open kitchen, an…
Comments Off on SOFITEL’S GOURMET ADELAIDE OFFERING / 73 View / January 11, 2022
Posted: November 20, 2021
COVID has certainly severely tested the patience of event planners. While the 2021 Marlborough Wine and Food Festival had to be cancelled, Wine Marlborough is taking the leap for 2022, announcing that the 36th festival will be held Saturday 12th…
Comments Off on MARLBOROUGH WINE AND FOOD FESTIVAL / 54 View / November 20, 2021
Posted: November 20, 2021
CLARE Valley-based Taylors Wines has become the first independent Australian winery to set ambitious emissions reductions targets in line with the Paris Agreement. Taylors – known as Wakefield Estate in Europe – today announced its further commitment to environmental sustainability…
Comments Off on COMMITMENT TO ZERO CARBON / 60 View / November 20, 2021
Posted: November 20, 2021
LOOKING to stay somewhere different in a vineyard setting? Set on the picturesque Mitchelton Estate with stunning bush and vineyard views, you will find five full-sized Airstream RVs that offer a comfortable stay for guests all year-round. The Mitchelton Airstream…
Comments Off on A BREEZY STAY IN THE VINES / 36 View / November 20, 2021
Posted: September 15, 2021
THE craft drinks business is booming, and fast-moving Mighty Craft has announced the acquisition of Adelaide Hills Distillery, Mismatch Brewing, Hills Cider and the Lot.100 venue. Mighty Craft managing director Mark Haysman announced the purchases of the businesses and the…
Comments Off on A MIGHTY ENDEAVOUR / 84 View / September 15, 2021
Posted: September 15, 2021
TAMBURLAINE Organic Wines has announced a collaboration with gardening expert and environmentalist Jamie Durie to create a small batch of wines called True Earth Collective. The limited releases are from organically certified vineyards, but also come with extra benefits. “We’re…
Comments Off on TRUE EARTH FOR JAMIE DURIE & TAMBURLAINE / 53 View / September 15, 2021
Posted: September 15, 2021
FOR a real family wine tasting experience, it is hard to beat Scarborough Wines in the Hunter Valley. Not only are three generations of the Scarborough family actively involved, but the tasting room is in the old family homestead on…
Comments Off on HARD TO BEAT / 44 View / September 15, 2021
Posted: May 4, 2021
BEC Hardy Wines has announced a new winemaker: Bec Swincer. Swincer brings with her over two decades of winemaking experience. Bec Hardy, the great-great-great granddaughter of Thomas Hardy, known as the ‘Father of South Australian wine’ took the reins from…
Comments Off on SEEING DOUBLE / 111 View / May 4, 2021
Posted: March 4, 2021
FAMOUS Australian wine brand Orlando is back on bottle shop shelves with two ranges, The Legends and The New Heroes. Under the hand of chief winemaker Ben Thoman, the new Orlando portfolio features regionally focused wines that showcase the best…
Comments Off on ORLANDO BACK ON BOTTLESHOP SHELVES / 120 View / March 4, 2021
Posted: March 4, 2021
FOLLOWING in the footsteps of Banrock Station, the team from Shingleback in McLaren Vale has just launched its new “The Bio Project” range of wines for Coles. The Bio Project, which has included 200 volunteers, represents Shingleback’s ongoing commitment to…
Comments Off on COLES SUPPORTS SHINGLEBACK BIO-FRIENDLY WINES / 91 View / March 4, 2021
Posted: March 4, 2021
THREE wine industry friends and colleagues have snapped up McLaren Vale wine producer Fox Creek Wines. Ben Gibson, Jock Harvey and Dim Georgiadis are the trio of new owners. Gibson has held a broad cross section of wine industry roles…
Comments Off on TRIO TAKEOVER FOX CREEK / 259 View / March 4, 2021
Posted: January 18, 2021
THE winners of the 2020 Australian Women in Wine Awards, owned and operated by The Fabulous Ladies’ Wine Society, have been announced via a live, fun-filled broadcast to celebrate and reward the work of women in the Australian wine community,…
Comments Off on WOMEN SHINE ON VIRTUAL STAGE AT THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN IN WINE AWARDS / 84 View / January 18, 2021
Posted: January 18, 2021
INNOVATIVE Sydney and Brisbane hotel group, Solotel, has announced that Group Beverage Manager, Annette Lacey, has become a Master of Wine, one of only two Australians in the latest group of MW’s and one of 143 women in the institute’s…
Comments Off on Our new MW! / 164 View / January 18, 2021
Posted: January 18, 2021
A GROUP of leading Tasmanian wine brand owners have formed a partnership, together with a locally based marketing specialist, to launch online wine sales platform Wines of Tasmania. Each month, a selection of exceptional, rare, and hard-to-find wines from Tasmania’s…
Comments Off on STRONGER TOGETHER / 50 View / January 18, 2021
Posted: December 1, 2020
CELEBRITY helps to sell wine. Just ask Greg Norman, Kylie Minogue, or Graham Norton. All have enjoyed success adding their names to wine brands. Actor Sam Neill actually makes his own wines. Now celebrity chef Matt Moran is joining in,…
Comments Off on CELEBRITY STATUS SELLS WINE / 98 View / December 1, 2020
Posted: December 1, 2020
THE historic Knappstein Wines site in the Clare Valley is en-route to being one of the snazziest cellar door facilities in South Australia. The first of three newly renovated cellar door venues on the heritage-listed site has just been launched…
Comments Off on HISTORIC VENUE EXPANDS / 65 View / December 1, 2020
Posted: December 1, 2020
FORMER Australian rugby internationals Adam Ashley-Cooper, Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell are getting serious about the wine business. The trio recently launched a wine range that plays tribute to their time in the Wallabies’ backline with each wine being crafted…
Comments Off on SERIOUS ABOUT SPORT AND WINE / 87 View / December 1, 2020
Posted: October 1, 2020
THE 2020 grape harvest for some Canberra wineries was so badly affected by bushfires and smoke taint that no wine could be produced. At Four Winds Vineyard, outside Murrumbateman, Sarah Collingwood, CEO, considered her options. There weren’t many. The grapes…
Comments Off on LEMONS TO LEMONADE, WINE TO GIN / 76 View / October 1, 2020
Posted: October 1, 2020
THE exceptional 2020 harvest was certainly one silver lining to the covid-19 clouds, but producers now have their attention focused on potential worker shortages in the coming harvest. The industry relies upon the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme, in which…
Comments Off on POSSIBLE WORKER SHORTAGES FOR COMING HARVEST / 41 View / October 1, 2020
Posted: October 1, 2020
ONE example of the wine industry rising to the current challenge is a Bragato Research Institute (BRI) project for turning grape marc (the stems and seeds leftover from pressing) into hand sanitizer. Awarded NZ$84,700 by the Ministry of Business and…
Comments Off on THE MARC OF A GOOD SANITIZER! / 74 View / October 1, 2020
Posted: October 1, 2020
HAVING fought breast cancer and survived, Coonawarra winemaker, Kate Goodman, is giving back with a wine she hopes will raise $70,000 for Breast Cancer Network Australia. Nikkal 2020 Yarra Valley Rosé was released on September 1 and was a collaboration…
Comments Off on A VERY WORTHY WINE! / 67 View / October 1, 2020
Posted: August 6, 2020
THE Barossa Valley is to get a 12-storey luxury hotel and day spa that should significantly boost tourism to the region. The hotel, Oscar Seppeltsfield, will be completed by 2022 and will be situated at the historic Seppeltsfield site. No…
Comments Off on NEW GEM FOR THE BAROSSA / 90 View / August 6, 2020
Posted: August 6, 2020
THERE’S no doubting 2020 is already one for the history books, but for New Zealand winemakers it will also go down as one of the best vintages in recent memory. Whilst there was some variation across the country, for the…
Comments Off on 2020 HARVEST – A MEMORABLE VINTAGE! / 73 View / August 6, 2020
Posted: August 6, 2020
Organic wine pioneers Tamburlaine Organic Wines have opened a new tasting facility in the historic former Millthorpe General Store in Central Western New South Wales. The opening follows hot on the heels of the multi-award-winning organic winemakers’ expansion in the…
Comments Off on HAPPENING ORGANICALLY / 326 View / August 6, 2020
Posted: August 6, 2020
ALAN Varney of Varney Wines is a genuine garagiste producer, making some of his wines in volumes of under 100 cases per vintage. While the Entrada range is designed to show off young, approachable, drink-now wines, all three show Iberian…
Comments Off on GENUINE GARAGISTE / 85 View / August 6, 2020
Posted: April 23, 2020
MEET a unique gin with authentic Australian flavours. Underground Spirits, the most-awarded distillery in Canberra, has partnered with the Australian National Botanic Gardens to create Ad Crescendum Native Gin. Ad Crescendum, which means “to grow” was created with specially foraged…
Comments Off on GIN NATIVE / 153 View / April 23, 2020
Posted: April 23, 2020
VICTORIA’S oldest family owned winery and vineyard is celebrating its 160th anniversary in 2020 Tahbilk aims to make a noise about the milestone. Established in 1860 and situated in the Nagambie Lakes region of Victoria, the name Tahbilk means “place…
Comments Off on LEGENDARY WATERING HOLE / 93 View / April 23, 2020
Posted: April 23, 2020
THE select group of Artisans of Barossa has welcomed two new labels to the fold. Mark Slade and Craig Stansborough from Purple Hands Wines and John and James Lienert from Lienert Vineyards join founder members Hobbs of Barossa Ranges, John…
Comments Off on NEW ARTISAN OFFERINGS / 91 View / April 23, 2020
Posted: March 4, 2020
IN the worst Australian bushfire season on record, fires raged across the continent and amid the horror of lost lives, lost houses and livelihoods, came losses, too, for the Australian wine industry. One-third of grape production in the Adelaide Hills,…
Comments Off on COUNTING THE COST / 65 View / March 4, 2020
Posted: March 4, 2020
THE Boynton family’s Feathertop winery in the Alpine Valleys region of Victoria is the latest winery to join the Ultimate Winery Experiences Australia collection. Feathertop Winery is located in Porepunkah and boasts accommodation, a charming cellar door, a variety of…
Comments Off on ENJOY THE ALPINE EXPERIENCE / 79 View / March 4, 2020
Posted: March 4, 2020
BRUNY Island is one of Tasmania’s treasures and two new eco-luxe pods overlooking the water make a perfect escape from the everyday grind. The recently opened Free Spirit Pods were handcrafted from sustainable Tasmanian timbers and fitted out with quality…
Comments Off on FREE AND EASY / 63 View / March 4, 2020
Posted: March 4, 2020
THERE has been a changing of the guard at pioneering Clare Valley winery Mitchell, with the third generation of the family now taking over. The change coincides with the release of a new collection of cellar-door wines – Kinsfolk, by…
Comments Off on GENERATIONAL CHANGE / 68 View / March 4, 2020
Posted: January 9, 2020
SYDNEY Seafood School, one of Australia’s leading providers of hands-on cooking experiences, is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a program of new events and guest chefs. The school opened in 1989, with cooking classes hosted by Serge Dansereau (The Bathers’…
Comments Off on COOKING UP A CELEBRATION / 56 View / January 9, 2020
Posted: January 9, 2020
RISING star Corey Hume is the new executive chef at True South Dining Room, the award-winning eatery at the Rees Hotel in Queenstown, New Zealand. Hume is a former member of the New Zealand National Culinary Olympic team and spent…
Comments Off on HUME ASSUMES CONTROL / 93 View / January 9, 2020
Posted: January 9, 2020
MARGARET River has always been one of Australia’s most rewarding wine regions to visit – but also one of the most difficult to get to. From Sydney and Melbourne, it has always meant a three-four-hour flight plus a long drive….
Comments Off on DIRECT FLIGHTS TO OPEN UP THE WEST / 67 View / January 9, 2020
Posted: January 9, 2020
THERE is nothing unusual about women winemakers, even in the blokey Australian world of wine. Sue Hodder, Vanya Cullen and Louisa Rose are among those at the peak of their profession – and there are dozens more following in their…
Comments Off on DUNSFORD AWARDED ‘LEGEND’ STATUS / 158 View / January 9, 2020