by Norris Waters | Apr 26, 2022
You can’t call an Australian wine Burgundy anymore, and fair enough too. Burgundy and Bordeaux are the most imitated wine regions on earth, setting benchmarks for their varietals and styles, which at their best, have no equal in the world. So, in Australia,...
by Norris Waters | Apr 23, 2022
There are very few genuinely exciting wines. Light bulb moments might only happen a couple of times a year, if you’re lucky. Great wines are not necessarily crowd pleasers either. Indeed, many of the world’s great wines do poorly in blind wine tastings,...
by Norris Waters | Apr 11, 2022
Sometimes I wonder what people get out of fine wine. The cheaper stuff, fault free and full of pleasant flavour, will do for most of us, most of the time. Wonderful wines are like wonderful books. They are thought-provoking and evocative, sentimental and familiar. I...
by Norris Waters | Apr 6, 2022
Despite losing close to half of their crop due to late frosts, the Defaix’s still count themselves lucky. Numbers are terrible for much of France; most Chablis producers being hit with losses in the vicinity of 80%. So, volumes are down, prices are relatively...
by Norris Waters | Mar 29, 2022
Our first trip to the Mornington was an excercise in tasting very light coloured reds and frisky, early picked whites. So much so, that I wasn’t sure (still not sure), if it was the nature of the place or the wine producers. Crunchy red fruits and green apple...
by Norris Waters | Mar 20, 2022
Chablis’ surge in popularity has come as a bit of surprise. Recently, a Sommelier told me that “it’s the new sav blanc”, and she seemed gratified with this, commenting that it was more versatile and food friendly than the famed Marlborough white. True, I...
by Norris Waters | Mar 17, 2022
Sweet vibrancy is such a hard combination to achieve. I would normally associate wines made from healthy ripe grapes that are also refreshing and cleansing with Sangiovese from Chianti, Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley or the reds of Valpolicella. But regional...
by Norris Waters | Mar 16, 2022
Great producers define their wine regions and grand vineyards or no, they make the best of what they have. Goisot is always lumped into the broader paradigm of Burgundy, which is of course true, but what’s the point in trying to compare wines as far afield as...
by Norris Waters | Mar 15, 2022
Great things are happening at Bannockburn under the stewardship of Matt Holmes. All their organically managed, close-planted vineyards will be fully certified this year. Holmes believes that as soon as they had started the process of stimulating vine health years...
by Norris Waters | Mar 9, 2022
I first tasted Eva Fricke’s wines almost 20 years ago, in the good old days when anything from Germany was cheap (save the cars). So cheap in fact, that the quality to price ratio was common talk in the UK wine trade. It’s been twenty years since, and has...
by Norris Waters | Mar 1, 2022
Our most read blog is Understanding Grosses Gewachs, but if I were to write a follow up, I would add a section called Giant Killers. Clearly there is good reason as to why most vineyards attract a grand classification, but it’s also true that every year, wines...
by Norris Waters | Feb 24, 2022
Gelmino and Cristina Dal Bosco farm 9 hectares dotted around the hamlet of Brognoligo. Small parcels are planted to Garganega. The soil here is volcanic, and the best vineyards are ideally situated on south facing slopes, the steepest of which are the Cru of Roccolo...
by Norris Waters | Feb 19, 2022
Styles of wine are in a constant state of flux and the idea that a wine is ‘typical’ or true to its origin is becoming harder to pin down. When we were buying our first bottles of red in the early 2000’s, thick textures, prominent oak and extracted...
by Norris Waters | Feb 5, 2022
One of the highlights of any year is a Tyrrell’s Vat release. Essentially a museum release, as the whites at least have already been offered to their Private Bin membership about 10 months after vintage. Bottle age is always an advantage however, for either red...
by Norris Waters | Jan 25, 2022
Brilliant wines, impeccably cellared and at the same price as current releases are very rare. We have five wines from one of Australia’s best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay producers, Clyde Park. All wines have been aged at the estate and are just entering their long...
by Norris Waters | Jan 10, 2022
Soave was trendy for a time, particularly when for some pocket change you could purchase a relatively bland, perfectly drinkable dry white wine. There was no need for tasting notes or serious critiquing. These supermarket wines were designed for serious economy...
by Norris Waters | Dec 28, 2021
The best Champagnes are wonderful. Made from fully ripe grapes and a judicious dosage, if any at all. They are however, incredibly intense, concentrated and deep in flavour, so much so that it’s hard to knock it back in 40 degree heat, or drink more than a glass...
by Norris Waters | Dec 4, 2021
It is a truism that dog owners look like their dogs. The breed is etched into the fabric of the owner. Winemakers are no different. Their personalities, philosophy, politics, dress, you name it are etched into the liquid they produce. This is not meant to imply...
by Norris Waters | Nov 26, 2021
Pinot Noir outside Burgundy has never been more diverse, exciting and rich in expression. Rippon, from New Zealand’s Central Otago region, crafts structured, tense, ethereal and decadent pinots to rival the finest of the Cote d’Or. The estate’s DNA ...
by Norris Waters | Nov 16, 2021
Chardonnay is made everywhere in Australia, and to a very high standard. Very few regions however are able to boast genuinely unique styles, or at least a regional typicity. The same can be said of Burgundy, where warm, early vintages have increased the diversity...
by Norris Waters | Nov 8, 2021
Traditions and typicity are key to our understanding of classic wine regions. Style, flavours, textures and classifications are signposts and, to a degree, a generalisation of what may be in the bottle. The acceptance of the VDP by the German wine fraternity and wine...
by Norris Waters | Oct 26, 2021
“In every genuine man, a child is hidden that wants to play”. Ain’t that the truth. Nietshke it seems, understood a part of our pscyche (genuine man, or woman that is), that clutched and thrashed for the playful in our stiff, structured and serious...
by Norris Waters | Sep 14, 2021
Some wines and their makers are entire unto themselves. They may be varietal, classic even and will no doubt share many characteristics with their neighbours. You may be able pick the region, vintage and winemaking, and yet, they are not like their neighbours. These...
by Norris Waters | Aug 8, 2021
Italy’s greatest grape? One way or the other, Nebbiolo makes much of the country’s greatest, most sought after and most delicious wines. Consistency of quality, an iron rule for this wine lover, has never been better. Sangiovese for example can be priced...
by Norris Waters | Jul 3, 2021
Whisson Lake was recommended to me by Matt Herod, Sommelier at the Shangri La Hotel in Sydney and who also acts as a trade representative for Tyrrells wines. A man as passionate for wine as he, had much to say of Whisson Lake. So I listened. If Ashton Hills pioneered...
by Norris Waters | Jun 13, 2021
Twenty years ago, and no doubt for many years prior, producers in the Langhe were invariably described as modern, traditional or a combination of the two. Nicholas Belfrage’s seminal work, Barolo to Valpolicella would categorise every producer according to their...
by Norris Waters | May 21, 2021
The Australian importer of Joh. Jos. Prum once described wine as “bottled energy”, reminding me of Kenneth Clark’s description of a William Blake engraving, Glad Day. He writes “nothing could be more paradoxical than that he should have found...
by Norris Waters | Apr 18, 2021
With just 5 hectares of vines and making around 2000 cases of wine a year, Antoine Jobard is a tiny producer of some of the finest Meursault. Francois, Antoine’s son is now making the wines, and the changes have been subtle. Change is often abhorred,...
by Norris Waters | Mar 17, 2021
Newness in wine is highly prized. New producers, styles, vintages and reviews focus the wallet, and it is a special pleasure to drink the latest releases of a treasured favourite. This is only the second release of Swinney’s wine we have been a part of and...
by Norris Waters | Feb 23, 2021
Put simply, great producers make great wine. So when offered a taste of Tyrrell’s new single vineyard releases, I was excited. I have tasted releases of these wines many times, and they have all been delicious, but a taste of these seven wines left me convinced...
