Pinot Grape Family How do you like your pinot: black, grey, white or speckled? Sparkling, still, red, white or rosé? Perhaps a serious Burgundy or a cheeky little blanc de noir? Confused? Don’t be, here’s everything you need to know about the pinot grape family one of the world’s most versatile (and delicious) families of […]
Australia’s Best Riesling I’m a riesling girl through and through! I love its fresh acid zing when it’s young and its subtle kerosene notes as it ages. For me, Australia’s best riesling is mostly dry, lean and minerally, but just occasionally I like a touch of residual sweetness to stand up to chilli heat too. […]
Best Australian Fortified Wines Before modern bottling methods, wines were often fortified with grape spirit to protect them from spoiling. The different flavours this produced caught on, so by the time it was no longer necessary there was a continuing market for these higher alcohol wines. Join me on a Food & Wine Adventure soon! […]
Top Natural Rosé Wines By now many of us are sold on rosé as a great all-rounder, especially in the warmer months. We’ve moved on from concerns about the simple, lolly-water, grenache-heavy versions that gave rosé a bad name in the past, and are enjoying pale, dry, refreshing food friendly wines. So what’s left to […]
Best New Australian Chardonnay Are you a member of the ABC club (’anything but chardonnay’)? Many people are, as traditional buttery heavily-wooded Australian chardonnay has largely fallen out of fashion. But take another look. Explore the Diversity of Chardonnay on a Hunter Valley Food & Wine Weekend. Chardonnay, the world’s most widely planted white grape, […]
Where To Eat in the Hunter Valley Alongside icons like Tyrrell’s Vat 1 and Lake’s Folly Cabernets, the offering from Australia’s oldest wine region has expanded to include some exciting new wines from young gun winemakers – many of them second-generation vignerons. Explore the Hunter Valley on my small group, all-inclusive Food & Wine Weekend! […]
Top 5 Australian Rosés For me spring and summer mean longer days, warmer nights, the scent of jasmine, and rosé! I have a strong bias toward the pale salmon-pink rosés of Provence and an equally strong aversion to the hot-pink, grenache-based lolly water that was typical of Australian rosé for way too long. Discover more […]
Top 5 Glen Innes In February 2023 I had the honour of being the guest cook at the Gourmet Fiesta at the Glen Innes Show on the Northern Tablelands of NSW. The fiesta has been the food-lovers section of the Glen Innes Show, dubbed ‘the Royal of the North’, for over 20 years, with past […]
Top 5Country Pubs Pubs are a great part of Australian culture, egalitarian spaces where tradies and CEOs drink side-by-side and everyone feels at home. In the old days there was a public bar for the blokes and a ladies’ lounge for the gals, with no cross-pollination. Today’s public bars welcome anyone who enjoys gaming and […]
Forget cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and even pinot noir just for a moment. As fine as they are, there’s a whole world of grape varieties out there to explore, and many of the most widely available in Australia hail from Italy. Hardly surprising given our enduring love affair with Italian food and culture. Every region of […]
