The sharing of the assets of collapsed Farmer Bros by wineclub-based Cellarmaster and Coles Myer’s Liquorland spells a new era in Canberra retailing and is part of massive change Australia wide
Padthaway began as broadacre plantings in the 1960s to feed the coming wine boom. For the first 20 years the region had no winery and no name. In those days ‘Keppoch’ did just as well as ‘Padthaway’. But now it’s one of the major players on the vast Limestone plains stretching south from Lake Alexandrina to Coonawarra and beyond.
Brand’s Laira Vineyard, dating from 1896, is a special plot of dirt making distinctive wines.
Hugh Johnson and Len Evans speak uncommon sense to Australia’s wine industry following the 1995 Royal Sydney Wine Show
A dramatic shortfall in Australia’s 1995 grape harvest will hit wine prices
The outcome of the Federal Government’s deliberations on wine tax will have a profound impact on the future of the industry. The draft report is not encouraging.
A shortage of local sees our major producers shipping in wine from California and France to fill the humble wine cask (bag in box)
While it’s fashionable to lament the loss of the Penfolds reds of old, the lament has no basis in fact. Recent wines and the new releases show the benefits of an increasing grape resource and commitment to traditional styles.
Seppelt’s outstanding fortified wines spring from a great treasure trove of material up to a century old. James Godfrey is the current custodian of this unique resource.
Seppelt fortified-wine maker, James Godfrey, and chef Serger Dansereau reveai the synergies of rare old fortified wines with the right food
Release of the much-hyped 1990 Grange has seen its price go through the roof as the wine becomes truly global
As a grape shortage bites prices are on the rise and multiplied by an increase in the Federal tax. But there are still good wines to be found.
1995 was a troublesome, small vintage. But it wasn’t all bad. There will be highlights as well as disappointments
Australian Government bilateral agreements with Europe and America has created the need for Australia to define its wine regions. The process is bound to be long and complicated, but it is underway
A group of Canberra re-enacts the Chicago Les Amis du Vin tasting that rated a shiraz as the best 1982 cabernet
Creation of the Maurice O’Shea Award marked a turning point for McWilliams as its focused turned from the declining fortified wine market to table wines. Awarding of the 1995 O’Shea presented an opportunity to taste from McWilliams impressively broad domain
Single vineyard wines are becoming increasinlgy important for the Australian wine industry. And it’s all to do with the style and quality produced by special sites
Dr Edgar Riek’s inventiveness and insights helped build Canberra’s wine industry and the National Wine Show
Twenty two years after establishing a large vineyard at Mildura on the Murrya River, the Yunghanns family is launching a budget wine brand to join its premium product from Coonawarra
Fraud in labelling has seldom been an issue in Australia. Confusion, though, is rife as demonstrated by the fragmented elements in the labelling of Richmond Grove’s outstanding wines.
Vineyards in the vicinity of Griffith, New South Wales, produces large volumes of semillon mostly for anonymous, cheaper dry table wines. But thanks to botrytis in this humid riverine environment, and a bit of human ingenuity, luscious stickies have emerged as the variety’s high point
Martin and Merrilee Winter appear to be pushing the viticultural boundaries by establishing vines at Mount Gambier, well south of Coonawarra’s vineyards.
Australia’s sparkling wines are showing the benefits of better fruit sourcing, especially from purpose planted vineyards as far south as Tasmania and at high altitude elsewhere
Lindemans maturation cellars have shaped opinion on the keeping qualities of wines from key Australian wine regions
The incidence of wine spoilage caused by the cork-borne molecule trichloranisole is insidious and difficult to eradicate. While winemakers are looking to reduce the incidence, the problem appears intractible.
As the Springboks defeated England at Twickenham, South Africa and Australia fielded 100 wine apiece in the South African Airways Wine Shield in Capetown. On the numbers, Australia won. But, as in all wine judgings, opinions varies and often it’s more important to note styles than to award points
Penfolds winemakers have a charter to make ‘white grange’. And they have a clean slate. Semillon and chardonnay are the insider runners but the odds are on chardonnay to prevail
A quick trot through 1995 from a winemaking and retailing perspective