These Top 5 drinks lists will introduce you to my favourite wine regions, bars, wines, cocktails and wine folk.
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 […]
I’ve become a bit of a sommelier groupie of late. I’ve found myself deciding where to eat based on who’s likely to be pouring my wine. The role of sommeliers (wine waiters) has come a long way in Australia in the past 10-15 years. My interest started with the likes of the legendary Charles Leong […]
Trust me to have a thing for the ficklest (read: most expensive) wine grape varietal. I love pinot noir for its complexity, subtlety, funky-earthy-barnyard aromas and soft fruit, for the way it marries with foods as diverse as duck, beetroot, tapenade, mushrooms and curries. It’s a challenging grape to grow, more prone to disease than […]
I love a good bottle shop – it’s as exciting as a fabulous book store or specialist kitchenware shop – once I walk in I can be lost for hours. The best bottleshops are owned and staffed by people who are passionate about wine, and passionate about educating us about wine – they run free […]
While sweeter wines tend to appeal to novice wine-drinkers, with more experienced quaffers expressing a preference for drier styles, good sweet wines are some of the most delicious, sought-after drinks in the wine world. Like all fruit, grapes contain natural sugars and acids, and the best sweet wines contain a balance of the two, the […]
Vermouth, fortified wine aromatised with botanicals, is increasingly appearing as a separate category on wine lists – great news for anyone looking for a pre-dinner drink with a difference. For most of my life vermouth meant Noilly Prat for cooking or Cinzano Rosso in cocktails (such as negroni). Recently other traditional producers have arrived in […]
