The truffle book (Gareth Renowden, Limestone Hills Publishing, New Zealand, 2005) says that this expensive little black tuber turns off perhaps as many people as it turns on.
But whether we like it or not, the truffle’s extraordinary, penetrating aroma can’t be ignored. It gets up our nose and stays there a long time. Indeed, it’s […]
Majella The Musician Coonawarra Cabernet Shiraz 2008 $18
Barwang Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 $20
Prof and Tony Lynn’s Musician gives elegance a good name. It’s sourced entirely from the Lynn’s southern Coonawarra vineyard and made specifically for early drinking. It captures Coonawarra’s bright, magic berry aromas and flavours. And though it’s soft and easy to drink, it […]
While shiraz and chardonnay slug it out for top spot (we produced 436 thousand and 445 thousand tonnes respectively in 2008), cabernet holds confidently to its less publicised third position at 254 thousand tonnes.
Like shiraz, it works in a variety of regions, if not as easily, producing robust, pleasing flavours – albeit with a boost, […]
Clonakilla Canberra District Jack Reidy Shiraz 2008 $27–$30
Clonakilla’s Tim Kirk made this blend for the Wesfarmer owned Vintage Cellars chain, using fruit from the Long Rail Gully, Dean Terrell and Phil Williams vineyards. It’s a close cellar mate to Clonakilla O’Riada Shiraz ($35 cellar door) – but without the benefit of declassified components from Clonakilla’s […]
For all the international success of Australian wine (we exported $2.46 billion worth in the year to January 2009, 17% less than in the year to January 2008), our export markets know little of the diverse regional wine styles flowing from our 112 official ‘geographic indications’ (GIs).
Our export success to date rests primarily on ‘brand […]
James Squire Hop Thief Ale 2009 345ml 6-pack $18
I rate Hop Thief as the most harmonious of the five hop-season brews reviewed in the last few weeks. It marries tangy, herbal, hops aromas, flavour and lingering bitterness perfectly with the rich, underlying malt flavours. This is another brewing masterpiece from Chuck Hahn and his gang […]
Chuck Hahn and his James Squire team brewed their first Hop Thief Ale shortly after the hop harvest in 2006. For that brew, says Chuck, they used carefully selected new hop varieties from New Zealand.
In 2007, Chuck moved the focus to America, testing ten new varieties and selecting two for the brew that eventually made […]
Printhie Orange Chardonnay 2008 $15–$17
Peppertree Venus Block Orange Chardonnay 2008 $24–$26
Penfolds Bin 311 Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2008 $35–$43
These wines present three different faces of local, cool-grown chardonnay. Printhie, from the cool heights of Mount Canobolas, Orange, expresses the zesty, fresh and delicious citrus flavours of the variety unadorned by winemaking tricks. The Penfolds wine, from Tumbarumba, […]
In December last year Australia and Europe tied off a loose end that had been dangling since March 1994. But who’s going to tell grandma that the agreement spells the end of Australian ‘sherry’ (the name at least, if not the drink)?
We’d committed to dropping European wine names from our labels under a wine trade […]
Cascade First Harvest Ale 330ml bottle $4.59
Cascade’s eighth salute to the hops harvest is a medium amber colour brew. It’s lively and fresh, with rich underlying malt flavour and pervasive, refreshing, tangy, bitter hops. The bitterness builds as you sip, but in a pleasant way – and it’s offset by the delicious rich malt flavour.
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