by Norris Waters | Apr 6, 2024
Tasting the wines of Sierra Reed is one of the most satisfying vinous experiences every year. The range is diverse, the grapes sourced from all over, and moreover, it’s impossible to pin down a ‘style’. Every wine presents differently, not only...
by Norris Waters | Mar 27, 2024
Vinya Vella is the very personal project of Dylan Griggs, one of Australia’s foremost viticulturists. A tiny vineyard, just 6 hectares of mostly grenache planted on the eastern slopes of the Barossa Valley, just below the upper reaches of the Eden Valley. No...
by Norris Waters | Mar 15, 2024
In a recent review of the 2022 Vanguardist MVG Grenache, Gary Walsh asked and answered the rhetorical question “Is it the best Australian Grenache? I think maybe so.” A better question, I think, would have been “Is this the most beautiful Australian...
by Norris Waters | Mar 5, 2024
First, a little history After the defeat of Germany in May 1945, one of the curious sights amongst the ruin and rubble were people chipping away at Stucco. En-stucking, was the practice of removing a buildings outer layer of decorative stucco. Usually full of flourish...
by Norris Waters | Feb 26, 2024
If there is one varietal South Africa is known for, it is Chenin Blanc. With almost 20% of plantings, it is South Africa’s most widely planted variety. Revered and respected Known colloquially as Steen, Chenin is to be found all over the Western Cape,...
by Norris Waters | Feb 12, 2024
Tempranillo often plays second fiddle, third or fourth for wine lovers and growers alike, so it is a delightful surprise to discover an Australian producer focusing on the Holy Grail that is Tempranillo and, as it turns out, crafting the country’s finest example...
by Norris Waters | Feb 1, 2024
Always one of our favourite releases of Australian wine, Traviarti has established itself as one of the country’s foremost Nebbiolo producers. Tiny vineyards alas sell through their wine quickly but here there are two wines from 2023, Chardonnay and the Rosso...
by Norris Waters | Jan 24, 2024
Alheit: “We practice simple and careful winemaking: no yeasts, no enzymes, no acidification, no sulphur before ferment, no blocking malo, no new barrels, no fining etc. No manipulation.” I have come to love the idea that pure, fine wine can be harvested in...
by Norris Waters | Dec 7, 2023
How often have I heard it said that wine tastes better in Italy or France, and drinking it here in Australia, just isn’t quite the same. It’s true of course, how could it possibly taste the same, or as good, sipping it as you are, in a snatched moment of...
by Norris Waters | Dec 1, 2023
The Adelaide Hills it seems is a great incubator for young couples creating their own wine journeys. A region that was once defined by classicism, until a new wave of avante garde and contemporary wine producers, innovated and transformed the Australian vinous...
by Norris Waters | Nov 28, 2023
Many of Tasmania’s sparkling wines are crafted from bought grapes and made by a contract winemaker. Whilst there is nothing wrong with this, what with the cost of purchasing land and establishing a vineyard, it doesn’t ooze the magic of a farmer growing,...
by Norris Waters | Nov 21, 2023
One of the most significant trends of Champagne in the last 20 years is the increasing prevalence of little or no dosage. Dosage is sugar added to the final blend, to balance out Champagne’s naturally high acidity. Many growers began lowering their levels of...
by Norris Waters | Nov 16, 2023
Hmmm, syrah grown on granite. Bernhard Bredell became sick of seeing ancient bush vines simply grubbed up, as farmers didn’t have the markets or the ability to harvest and vinify the grapes. Scions of Sinai is based on Sinai Hill in lower Heldeberg,...
by Norris Waters | Nov 14, 2023
There are plenty of producers crafting good wines from excellent, well known fruit sources in McLaren Vale. It is, in a sense, crowded. But a crowd brings competition and competition, for the patient wine lover, gifts beautiful, authentic wines that most of us can...
by Norris Waters | Nov 6, 2023
If it’s a lucky vintage, the weather gods will shine brightly to yield up the full compliment of Adrian Rodda’s wines. Something almost always goes wrong, preventing the creation of some of Australia’s finest chardonnays and Bordeaux blends. But for...
by Norris Waters | Oct 22, 2023
Gilbert Family Wines is a true rarity – an affordable, high quality wine producer who absolutely knocks the value stakes out of the park and gets excellent reviews from various wine journalists. For once, we are in agreement! Six generations of Gilberts have...
by Norris Waters | Oct 3, 2023
I was lucky enough to receive an invitation to taste the 2022 release of Bannockburn single vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noirs, including back vintages all the way to 1995. Very few Australian producers of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay could boast that far back and...
by Norris Waters | Sep 14, 2023
I have tasted the wines of Mac Forbes a number of times over the years, and was never entirely convinced. Bursting onto the wine scene in 2004 after stints at Mount Mary and Southcorp, he was and is a pivotal producer showcasing an alternative expression of the Yarra...
by Norris Waters | Sep 4, 2023
Every winemaker has an ambition to express the complex notion of vineyard and vintage. But how best to do this? Patrick Sullivan works with chardonnay and pinot noir across various sites in Victoria. Both varieties have the advantage of producing stunning wines from...
by Norris Waters | Sep 2, 2023
From three barrels in 2012, marine scientists Gareth and Rainbo Belton have grown to 8 hectares, five staff and between 6 and 7 thousand cases of wines. All vineyards are farmed organically and biodynamically with absolutely no additions in the cellar, save for small...
by Norris Waters | Aug 22, 2023
It’s been too long, about four years, since I had the opportunity to taste the wines of Bindi, so when invited to a trade tasting that included this wonderful producer I jumped at the chance. From the very first sniff, Bindi once again confirmed its status as a...
by Norris Waters | Aug 21, 2023
It is every Hunter Valley wine lover’s labour and curse to preach of its glories and delights. Whenever I happen to write of the Hunter Valley, I find it impossible not to mention the indifference of most Australian wine drinkers. Ah well, let’s keep on...
by Norris Waters | Aug 15, 2023
Bicknell FC is the label of Nicky Harris and David Bicknell, chief winemaker at Oakridge. David Bicknell is one of Australia’s greatest winemakers and we have had many a superb cellared bottle contest between Oakridge and Bicknell FC. All the fruit is from a...
by Norris Waters | Aug 14, 2023
Henty must be a pretty tough place to live, let alone grow grapes. Its isolated location and freezing temperatures mean there are just two wine producers that define it – Crawford River and Hochkirch. Both producers are definitive of the grapes they grow and the...
by Norris Waters | Aug 9, 2023
Much of the literature surrounding Thibaud Boudignon begins with phrases like “bright new star”, “most exciting”, or “young star” and so on. I’m not sure what a man needs to do to be the star, or how many vintages one needs to...
by Norris Waters | Aug 3, 2023
Agricola Vintners’ shiraz’s begin in their vineyards, which are some of the grandest fruit sources in the country. Three Rivers, Asbroek and Dimchurch, to name a few from vines up to 170 years old. In a sense the wine that encapsulates the Barossa,...
by Norris Waters | Jul 27, 2023
I first came across the wines of Haddow and Dineen at the Israeli restaurant Ezra in Sydney. The food was superb and suited the wines perfectly. But what was immediately apparent, and these moments don’t happen that often, was that I had tasted Australia’s...
by Norris Waters | Jul 14, 2023
Weiser Kunstler’s vineyards of Ellegrub, Steffensberg and Gaispfad are Grand Cru vineyards, by any measure (except the VDP’s, who coincidently have no members working these sites). They accorded the status of Grand Cru to their vineyards based on the 1897 Prussian...
by Norris Waters | Jul 2, 2023
Frederic Savart produces some of Champagne’s most thrilling wines in the quiet corner of Ecueil. From just 4 hectares he makes around a dozen Champagnes. Founded by his father in 1947, like virtually all growers they sent most of their grapes to the local Co-Op...
by Norris Waters | Jun 20, 2023
South Africa’s Cape Town may have dodged ‘Day Zero’, when the possibility of the city running out of water was nail bitingly close, but the country’s water crisis isn’t over yet. Drought still afflicts much of the Cape and the threat of...
