My Hunter Valley Top 12

Over a glass of wine last night my wife and I started discussing which dozen wines we would put together to showcase the best of the Hunter Valley to somebody who has never tried anything from the area before. Never and easy task and it is limited to wines we are quite familiar with andContinueContinue reading “My Hunter Valley Top 12”

Vintage and harvesting quick FAQs

The 2013 vintage is already in full swing in the Hunter Valley of Australia and the nerves and tension of every winemaker and vineyard manager are palpable. This is the time when you can feel that a random 2 days of bad weather can make or break the whole year’ s work and how theContinueContinue reading “Vintage and harvesting quick FAQs”

Cellar Door Etiquette Short Course- Part 1 For Visitors

PART 1: For Cellar Door Visitors     Winery Cellar Doors can be one of the most exciting wine experiences a lot of people may ever have,,,or leave a bitter taste, even turning people off a winery, region or off wine in general.   After many years of visiting cellar doors all around Australia andContinueContinue reading “Cellar Door Etiquette Short Course- Part 1 For Visitors”

SO2Go and such – Sulphur Removal compounds…do they work?

Sulphur use in wines is a very sensitive little topic. We all know somebody who has said “I like wines, I just cant handle the sulphur, it gives me headaches” You may have said this yourself, I know I have.And true: some people do have a sensitivity to the common preservative ‘sulphur dioxide’ which mayContinueContinue reading “SO2Go and such – Sulphur Removal compounds…do they work?”

European wines and New World (i.e. Australian) equivalents

In France, Italy and Spain wines are traditionally labelled by region, and not specifically by which grape varieties are in those wine as in Australian wines. This leads to some confusion when looking at rows of bottles with names of places on them, especially if you come from a country where the labels have rowsContinueContinue reading “European wines and New World (i.e. Australian) equivalents”

Some points after living in a wine region for 6 months (Part 1)

There has been some time since my last post due mainly to the fact that a lot of free time has been absorbed by my move into working the wine industry living in the Hunter Valley. Despite my new affiliation to companies in the industry, this blog will remain objective however with some more insideContinueContinue reading “Some points after living in a wine region for 6 months (Part 1)”