These Top 5 drinks lists will introduce you to my favourite wine regions, bars, wines, cocktails and wine folk.
Best Italian Sparkling Wines Italy’s sparkling wines, or ones named for them, were many people’s first foray into the world of bubbles. Visit a Prosecco vineyard high on the hills of Valdobbiadene on my small-group food & wine tour to the Veneto & Venice Coming of drinking age in Australia in the early ’80s, it […]
Top 5Non-Alcoholic Beverages The non-alcoholic adult beverage market is gaining real momentum, with Forbes reporting that it surpassed US$11 billion in 2022. While many offerings still fall short of the mark attempting to compensate for the mouthfeel of the glycerol in alcohol with added sugar, new players are appearing virtually every month and more traditional […]
Top 5 Greek Wines Ancient Greeks were one of the foremost producers of wine in their day and, along with the Romans, responsible for spreading vines to much of Europe. While the modern Greek wine industry was tainted by bad retsina for a long time, today Greek wines, and at least one Greek varietal grown […]
Japanese Whisky By Fredrik Uden The history of Japanese whisky starts with Masataka Taketsuru going to Scotland in 1918. He is already a chemist and comes from a family with a long history of sake brewing. His sole purpose in visiting Scotland is to study the art of whisky making. This is the […]
What is this term, pet nat, appearing on crown-sealed bottles of cloudy fizz? It’s shorthand for the French pétillant naturel, or ‘sparkling natural’. Sure pet nats are one of the latest things in the world of natural wine … but then everything old is new again, and these are made by the simplest and oldest […]
One of the less visited areas of France, Jura is a diverse landscape of plains, vineyard-clad hills and the rugged Jura Mountains, which it shares with neighbouring Switzerland. There’s some spectacular scenery and delicious food, but most exciting of all is the unique vin jaune (‘yellow wine’) that has made this region famous among oenophiles […]
Top 5 Barossa (regional guide) Australian wine areas don’t get much more iconic than the Barossa. Without getting into too much detail, the Barossa ‘wine zone’ is divided into two official ‘wine regions’: the cooler, higher Eden Valley in the east and the warmer Barossa Valley in the west; plus a small stretch further west […]
Adelaideans, do you know how blessed you are? Just 20 minutes from your city centre, you start climbing into one of the most beautiful parts of Australia. I love the Adelaide Hills, especially when they’re bursting with spring blossoms or glowing with autumn leaves. A drive through the Hills is a joy in itself – […]
Nothing says ‘celebration’ quite like a glass of fizz. Champagne, prosecco, and the other usual culprits, are all very well – but next time you want some bubbles, try something a little left of centre. Here’s a gorgeous amber coloured fizz, one of England’s finest, sparkling sake and Swiss cider, and a gorgeous local pet […]
Have you seen the term ‘field blend’ on a wine label? If not, keep an eye out and you will – but what does it mean? Much of Australian winemaking is focused on single varietals, such as riesling or pinot noir, along with a few classic blends like the Bordeaux-style semillon sauvignon blancs of Margaret […]