Let’s begin with passion, purpose, shared wisdom, mateship, love, fulfilment, enjoyment, and a sense of giving back. This Friday, 20 May, the 2022 Winemakers Master Class is bringing to life all those experiences as four leading Australian winemakers showcase their winemaking expertise for the benefit of Sunshine Coast SunnyKids. Ten years ago, given my passion…
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Maybe it’s just me, but I find that pinot gris is one of those varietals that in a blind tasting or wine options game is harder to pick than a broken nose! Unlike riesling and semillon, there just aren’t the abundant tell-tale markers that reveal its identity. To add to the pinot gris confusion, you then have…
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Like all primary producers, those in the wine industry have their ups and downs from year to year and season to season. There are so many “uncontrollables”; drought, frost, flood and pest infestation being just a few of the more common ones. Not even the most successful and high profile regions are immune from misfortune…
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Italian varietals are on the ascendency in Australian vineyards, and for good reason. Our climate is largely well-suited and our forward thinking and progressive winemakers are proving that they can make Italian native styles as successfully as their counterparts in the country that is famously shaped like a boot. In recent years, Italian varietals have…
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The chardonnay grape is undeniably Australia’s most important white wine varietal. According to the 2020 Wine Australia report, it’s the second most widely planted grape (after shiraz) and the most widely grown. With 285,000 tonnes crushed, it accounts for some 19% of the total crop in Australia and (at least in my opinion) remains the…
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Call it a goonsack, spacebag, bogan briefcase or plonk pillow, the humble wine cask is a uniquely Australian contraption that revolutionised large format wine sales through the 1970’s and to this day, remains as Aussie as vegemite on your toast or lamb cutlets on your barbie. Since the design was first patented by Australian Winemaker,…
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With over 8,500,000 bottles imported in 2020 – an annual increase of 11.2%, it seems that Champagne has never been so popular amongst Australian sparkling wine consumers, at least for now. Like so many other industries, pandemic-related supply chain issues and increased demand have left many retailers having to impose sales limits of many favourite…
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Like fingernails on a blackboard or a knife scrapping a dinner plate, the sight and sound of ice cubes being plonked into a glass of red wine is an irritating insult to my senses. My older sister does it; frequently. It drives me nuts. And to think, my siblings have the gall to suggest that I’m…
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Dessert wines may not be a regular feature of Australian entertaining, but with the festive season upon us, there’s no better excuse for cracking the screwcap or pulling the cork off a “sticky” dessert wine after the mains are done. My mum’s pavlova or sticky date pudding never tasted so good as when it was…
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Like most consumer-facing retail industries, the wine sector is no stranger to adaption and accommodating change. Over the years, customer preferences and prejudices have resulted in savvy winemakers adjusting their style, experimenting with varietals and refreshing strategies to market their product to new and emerging markets. We’ve seen the wax and wane of biodynamic winemaking,…
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