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...
by Norris Waters | Jun 6, 2023
Polperro 2021 Single Vineyard Pinot Noir’s – Mornington’s Finest Great Pinot, like great Shiraz, Chardonnay or any other varietal is elusive. You would be forgiven in thinking otherwise, evidenced by the rather eye watering uppity scores awarded by wine critics to...
by Norris Waters | May 27, 2023
“Be sure that the land is visible in the glass. That is the essence of what we do”. Francois Millet If I could add my own caveat to Francois’s imperishable phrase, it would be to do justice to the fruit. Is the wine as delicious as the fruit and vineyard promised and,...
by Norris Waters | Apr 17, 2023
A recent invite to an American wine tasting had me wondering what did I really know, or think of American wines? Well, very little as it happens, but enough to know that there are treasures to be had and the first wine tasted confirmed this – not just not bad,...
by Norris Waters | Apr 4, 2023
The 2021 estate release are wines grown on Ravensworth’s own immaculate vineyard. Ravensworth also produces a number of excellent wines, with fruit purchased predominantly from Hilltops. After 20 vintages, owner/winemaker Bryan Martin has refined his style into a...
by Norris Waters | Mar 22, 2023
‘Forget Sauvignon as you taste these wines’ comes from an Andrew Jefford article titled Sancerre and Friends, published in Decanter in late 2017. Needless to say that all the wines of Pabiot are Sauvignon Blanc, yet as you taste through them, the less...
by Norris Waters | Mar 8, 2023
Kabinett is the lightest of all wines in the German Pradikat system. Measured in degrees Oechsle (a hydrometer scale measuring density of grape must), many wine growers have struggled to produce the differences that made sense of the Pradikat in recent years. Warmer,...
by Norris Waters | Feb 26, 2023
Pibarnon is Bandol’s highest vineyard at 300 metres, an amphitheatre of vines facing the Mediterranean. Vineyards planted in this way generally trap heat, creating a cauldon effect, but at Pibarnon, the amphitheatre provides shelter from the regions strong winds,...
by Norris Waters | Feb 14, 2023
Nebbiolo it seems is the new Holy Grail of Australian wine. Simon Grant’s vision for Traviarti has always been about crafting beautiful Nebbiolo, and so he does; Australia’s best alongside Pipan Steel. But never mind all this. The Holy Grail for Australian...
by Norris Waters | Feb 2, 2023
The concentration, balance, complex flavour and textural profiles, extract and sleek velocity of the 2021 wines will make these some of the greatest and longest lived German Rieslings this century. A cool and late vintage of cut and finesse, but also fleshy mid...
by Norris Waters | Jan 26, 2023
Based in Cruzille, Guillot-Broux was founded in 1978 when the land was cheap and the wines of the Maconnais not exactly known for their grandness. Cruzille is gifted with limestone, marl and iron rich soils; sunshine, rainfall and elevation – an area gifted with...
by Norris Waters | Jan 16, 2023
Daniel Bouland’s 2021 releases are pure, juicy, and cool – all tangy fruit, coupled with incredible energy and weightless power. The tannins and shape vary from wine to wine, from velvet to silk, angular and round. Incredibly refreshing and gourmand, they...
by Norris Waters | Dec 7, 2022
Quinta do Noval’s style, and Portuguese Tawnys in general, are very different to Australian equivalents. Firstly, the alcohol levels are higher and you can taste the spirit and feel the heat. Secondly, the increase in spirit also changes the shape. Portuguese...
by Norris Waters | Nov 30, 2022
Ossa was founded in 2017 by Rod and Cecile Roberts, eponymously named after Tasmania’s highest peak – Mount Ossa. Situated on the East Coast, joining the rush for land which many observers believe harbours Australia’s greatest cool climate potential....
by Norris Waters | Nov 27, 2022
Twenty years ago, it would have been inconceivable to drink wines of the Vanguardist style. Large producers, aided by compliant wine critics and journalists churned out full bodied, sweet fruited and extracted wines. Small producers were no different, and it seemed...
by Norris Waters | Nov 23, 2022
Every year, Verget confuses us all by releasing wines from various vintages and appellations. For the neat, logical and rational people out there, this must seem perverse. Why not concentrate our minds and tastebuds on one vintage and better still, release wines from...
by Norris Waters | Nov 17, 2022
Josh Cooper’s three Cabernets from different sites across Victoria are some of the most important wines released in Australia this year. Cabernet Sauvignon is so often overlooked, and many Australian iterations are unexciting corporate wines. I feel we have...
by Norris Waters | Nov 14, 2022
Rarely is a wine region so defined by one producer as Pemberton is by Picardy Wines. Only identified as a potential region for vine growing in the 1970’s, Pemberton can now boast over 50 wine producers, with Picardy at the forefront. Founded by Bill and Sandra...
by Norris Waters | Nov 13, 2022
Swinney has never been less than awesome, creating new benchmarks and pushing boundaries. The 2021 vintage reds are the best since 2019 and the most charming and delicious. The vintage was cool, hence the harvest was late, creating ideal conditions for wines of...
by Norris Waters | Nov 7, 2022
Vintage 2016 was a watershed moment in Piedmont. Universally acclaimed as a great vintage, many producers crafted their best ever wines. Standards across the region’s varietals and styles were all successful and it seemed that no one had failed to make at the...
by Norris Waters | Oct 27, 2022
This is not Burgundy. There, I said it. Is our love of Burgundy a love of Pinot Noir, or are we that obsessed with Burgundy we can’t see past it? Pinot Noir is known as Spatburgunder in Germany and, like everywhere else, style and taste is as much to do with the...
by Norris Waters | Oct 24, 2022
CRFT Wines (pronounced croft) was founded in 2012 by winemakers Candice Helbig and Frewin Ries. Sourcing fruit from 10 single vineyards across the Adelaide Hills and Barossa Valley, they make wines from established varietals and relative newcomers. Indeed CRFT are...
by Norris Waters | Oct 18, 2022
Vintage reports aside, 2021 is an exceptional vintage for A Rodda. Only one Chardonnay was produced in 2020, due to the bushfires, so it’s a delightful relief to taste through the suite of 2021’s. These wines are compact and coiled, packed with dense tangy...
by Norris Waters | Oct 5, 2022
It’s not every day you’re lucky enough to taste a revelation, wines that alter parameters, perceptions and challenge beliefs. All tastings are worthwhile, and in a sense revelatory, but few illicit strong responses one way or the other. I still remember my first...
by Norris Waters | Sep 28, 2022
Something my dad used to tell me often, and advice I did not heed until middle age, was to ‘know thyself’. Happily, absorbing wisdom came much sooner for John Hughes, who was called Riesling Freak by his friends as he always brought around a bottle of...
by Norris Waters | Sep 19, 2022
Stargazer, in a very short space of time, has become one of the most exciting prospects in Tasmania. Passion and true grit Founder/owner/winemaker and grape grower, Samantha Connew, released her first Stargazer wines in 2012, after previously working with Wirra Wirra...
by Norris Waters | Sep 14, 2022
Domaine Douhairet-Porcheret is a small domaine of 6.5 ha. Mademoiselle Armande Douhairet owned and ran the estate until her death in 2004. She bequeathed the property to her winemaker and great friend Andre Porcheret, former manager at Hospices de Beaune and Domaine...
