Seeing beyond Semillon

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Amanda Barnes

Amanda Barnes hones in on Hunter Valley, finding a fine spread of varieties and styles, including fresh takes on its signature grape. It may be Semillon that Hunter Valley is best known for, but as a recent New South Wales tasting set out to prove — the region can do a whole lot more. Australia’s first Albariño was planted here, in the Hunter Valley, back in 2014, which spurred on a bit of an A...

Shooting for sustainability in McLaren Vale

Posted on May 5, 2021May 15, 2021 by Amanda Barnes

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Seminal Semillon

Posted on October 9, 2020 by David Kermode

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...

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' ...

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...

Wine Australia updates education programme

Posted on June 29, 2020July 6, 2020 by Amanda Barnes

Wine Australia’s free, comprehensive education programme Australian Wine Discovered has been refreshed and 25 topics are now available online with additional resources, updated commentary and advanced notes. Since its launch in 2019, the programme has been downloaded over 23,000 times by media, educators, wineries, retailers, distributors and wine enthusiasts across the world. Australian Wine Dis...

Playing it cool in Victoria

Posted on March 10, 2019 by Tamlyn Currin