Amanda Barnes, Author at Circle of Wine Writers

New Member: Sue Eames

Posted on October 7, 2020October 7, 2020 by Amanda Barnes

Sue Eames spent many years at L’Oreal in the UK and France, working at a senior corporate level and latterly in Global HR Communications, whilst also travelling extensively in Europe to judge wines and spirits. In 2016, Sue decided to move full time into the wine and spirits field with a focus on French and English wines, Gin, Fruit Liqueurs and Armagnac. Based in Paris, Sue writes regularly o...

Jon Wyand, Jane Anson, Tim Atkin and Anne Krebiehl take home Louis Roederer Awards

Posted on October 7, 2020 by Amanda Barnes

Congratulations to Circle members Jane Anson, Jon Wyand, Anne Krebiehl and Tim Atkin who have won the Louis Roederer wine awards in the last edition of the awards ceremony: CHAMPAGNE LOUIS ROEDERER ARTISTRY OF WINE AWARD 2020: Jon Wyand RAMOS PINTO ONLINE COMMUNICATOR OF THE YEAR 2020: Jane Anson MAZZEI INTERNATIONAL WINE COLUMNIST OF THE YEAR AWARD 2020: Tim Atkin MW DOMAINE FAIVEL...

Ken Gargett’s top wine picks from Down Under

Posted on October 7, 2020October 9, 2020 by Ken Gargett

In our Australia special this month, Ken Gargett shares what he's been drinking recently and couple of recommendations on new releases to try. As with the rest of the world, the pandemic has meant many changes in the way critics Down Under are evaluating wines. Interstate visits to wineries and regions for tastings and new releases have been almost non-existent. Zoom meetings for local and offsho...

How Pouilly-Fuissé finally got Premier Cru recognition

Posted on October 7, 2020 by L.M. Archer

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James Halliday’s overview of Australian wine moments in the last 30 years

Posted on October 6, 2020October 6, 2020 by James Halliday

Australia’s eminent wine critic James Halliday is featured in our Meet the Member interview, and he also shares with us his greatest moments and milestones in Australian wine. In the last 50 years there have been monumental changes in styles, varieties and regions of Australia. Over this timeframe, there has been no consistency per se. A rough chronology of change goes thus: 1955 The ferm...

Meet the Member: James Halliday

Posted on October 6, 2020October 9, 2020 by James Halliday

James Halliday needs no introduction to anyone in the wine industry, as one of the world's most renowned wine critics, who has been at the forefront of Australian wine communication for over 30 years. Amanda Barnes interviews him on his career in wine and why, after writing over 150,000 wine tasting notes and 70 books, he is now focusing on a new business, Junovate, and looking at how AI can push ...

The wonderful old Grenache vines of Oz

Posted on October 6, 2020October 9, 2020 by Liz Sagues

Liz Sagues gets in a wonderful webinar with Yalumba, as she is catapulted off virtually, with wine in her glass, to the Barossa Valley. This is a much-expanded development of an article that originally appeared in the Ham & High series of newspapers in north and northwest London. This article was inspired by one of the many fascinating webinars that have so much increased wine communicators' ...

Meet the Friend: Emma Baumann

Posted on October 6, 2020 by Amanda Barnes

Emma Baumann is the PR and Communications Manager at Wine Australia, where she looks after communications, keeps stakeholders informed about Wine Australia and their activities, and finds ways to promote Australian wine and share producers’ stories. Amanda Barnes interviews her to get to know a bit more about why she enjoys working with the Australian wine industry, how she got her first wine brea...

New member: Michelle Williams

Posted on October 6, 2020 by Amanda Barnes

Michelle Williams is an award-winning freelance wine, food, and travel writer. Her work appears in numerous digital and print publications, including Forbes, Wine-Searcher, Wine Enthusiast, Snooth, USA Today, and more. She passionately explores the globe through the lens of a wine glass—preferably full—celebrating the communal experience of wine and food and illuminating the stories beyond the bot...

Finding a way through phylloxera

Posted on October 6, 2020 by Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams discovers how Yarra Valley growers are actually embracing the challenge posed by the dreaded vine root-devouring louse as an opportunity to prepare for another epic cultivation challenge – climate change, as well as using other innovative methods to temper the tiny aphid’s terrible threat. “Phylloxera is having a significant impact in the Yarra Valley,” laments Sandra de Pury o...