Articles / NewsQ3 2007 | Q4 2007 | Q1 2008 | Q2 2008 | Q3 2008 | Q4 2008 | Q1 2009 | Q2 2009 | Q3 2009
• News update from James 2 Jul 2009
France and Spain are belatedly waking up to the necessity of using varietal labelling, and the open-door policy of allowing non-traditional regional varieties to be planted. Thus
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• Sauvignon Blanc vs. Chardonnay 2 Jul 2009
My long-held suspicion that sauvignon blanc contains low doses of a hallucinogenic drug gained strength when I read an article by Jonathan Ray in the UK’s Telegraph newspaper
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• News update from James 30 Jun 2009
The French appellation of Quarts de Chaume will not be particularly well known to most Australian consumers, but some wonderful late harvest/botrytis chenin blancs are made in
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• Hyatt Wine Week 2009 30 Jun 2009
Some of South Australia’s top winemakers, including Wolf Blass and Stephen Henschke, will converge on Adelaide for a week in August to celebrate all things wine, food and fashion.
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• What I'm drinking... 30 Jun 2009
2000 A&P de Villaine Bourgogne Cote Chalonnaise This is an unashamedly simple red burgundy from the Cote Chalonnaises, entitled only to the basic Appellation Bourgogne
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• Albariño: What’s in a name? 27 Jun 2009
The 20 Australian growers of the Spanish white grape albariño (known in Portugal as alvarinho) thought they were on to something exciting, as did the 11 wineries that had released
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• What I'm drinking... 23 Jun 2009
1980 Mitchelton Classic Release Rhine Riesling The use of the term Rhine Riesling now seems strange, especially given that this was a re-release of the wine around the middle
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• News update from James 23 Jun 2009
Either Tasmania and New Zealand are not part of the globe, or global warming forgot to deal them in with climate change. In New Zealand the growing season was relatively cool and
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• Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2009 20 Jun 2009
For some years I have been a judge-president (panel leader) at the annual Concours Mondial de Bruxelles wine competition, one of the largest in the world (measured by entries, the
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• What I'm drinking... 16 Jun 2009
2000 Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett Full yellow, still tinged with green; it has an improbable mix of silk and honey as it enters the mouth and glides across the tongue;
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• Margaret River Festival 2010 16 Jun 2009
The Margaret River Wine Region Festival, presented by Channel 9 / WIN TV, has confirmed the dates for the 2010 festival as 8–12 April. ‘The Festival is one of the regions premier
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• A taste of France in the heart of Coonawarra 16 Jun 2009
Rymill Coonawarra is offering 40 people the opportunity to savour the differences between the wines of the Old World and the New in July. In two sessions on Saturday 18 July,
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• To blend or not to blend 13 Jun 2009
One of the main reasons why wine is so fascinating is its infinite number of variables. Experts, real or imagined, can read the entrails and see past, present and future.
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• Primo Estate: The Italian Connection 6 Jun 2009
When Joe and Dina Grilli moved their winery and cellar door from the Adelaide Plains to McLaren Vale in 2006, they did so in style. It was described by Australian Gourmet
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• Singing, Friendly, Charming 30 May 2009
If your family can trace its wine business roots back to 1124; if it acquired its then 1000-year-old wine cellar in 1849, the year after Austria first allowed private ownership of
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• Quintessential chardonnay takes top trophy at ICC 29 May 2009
An Australian wine from the Yarra Valley near Melbourne has won champion wine of show at the 2009 International Chardonnay Challenge in Gisborne tonight. The Coldstream Hills
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• What I'm drinking... 26 May 2009
@ La Ruchotte Frédérick Ménager had already gained a great reputation as a conventional chef in a conventional restaurant environment, when in his late 20s he decided to turn
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• Orange - More White than Red 23 May 2009
Orange is a fast-moving place these days, rapidly gaining attention for itself as a key region in NSW’s Central Ranges zone. Officially created on October 31, 1997, its boundaries
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• What I'm drinking... 19 May 2009
1961 Le Haut Lieu Demi-sec A shoulder of suckling pig from the best of the two mobile rotisseries at the market held every Saturday in Beaune led me to one of relatively few
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• The Weekend Australian Magazine: Wine 18 May 2009
Pierre Naigeon is living proof Flying Winemakers can travel both ways – and that the brotherhood of winemakers is a universal one. Naigeon is a fifth-generation Burgundian
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• Mornington Peninsula Winter Wine Weekend 18 May 2009
Since 1988, Mornington Peninsula Cellar Doors have provided a warm and friendly welcome to visitors throughout the Queen’s Birthday long weekend. This year is no exception and
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• Wine Companion iPhone application 12 May 2009
You can now search James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion on your iPhone with this new, free application. Phone, website and email details of wineries are all integrated with
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• What I'm drinking... 12 May 2009
1978 Morey St Denis Marcel Amance (half bottle) Bright and clear, with some crusty sediment quickly falling to the bottom of the glass (it was decanted, but in a hurry). On the
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• The Weekend Australian Magazine: Wine 11 May 2009
There is a long history of making semi-sweet, or off-dry, white wines in Australia, both still and sparkling. Orlando introduced Barossa Pearl in 1956, and Kaiser Stuhl was quick
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• What I'm drinking... 5 May 2009
2003 Stonier Reserve Pinot Noir Very fragrant, spicy cherry and strawberry aromas, then a silky light- to medium-bodied palate still retaining all the sweet fruits of its youth.
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• News round-up 4 May 2009
I have been puzzled about the status of the moscatos and other low alcohol wines (using the vernacular, not the technical) on the Australian market. To qualify as Australian wine
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• The Weekend Australian Magazine: Wine 4 May 2009
The Selbach family has been growing riesling in Germany’s middle Mosel area since 1661, which entitles them to rub shoulders with luminary neighbours such as JJ Prum, Dr Loosen (a
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• Coonawarra is packing its suitcases 1 May 2009
Coonawarra is ready for a road trip and is coming to your city! Come and enjoy a wine extravaganza featuring the personalities behind ‘Australia’s Other Red Centre’. Brisbane
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• Barossa vintage auction breaks record 1 May 2009
The 2009 Rare & Distinguished Barossa Wine Auction was eagerly anticipated, with organisers concerned that the current world economic situation would keep people from bidding.
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• Tasmanian wine sets sail 1 May 2009
Tasmania’s wine producers promise mainland wine lovers an arresting selection of the island’s best wines at the forthcoming landmark event, Tasmania Unbottled 2009. This largest
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• Wine Communicators of Australia 2009 Fellowship grant 30 Apr 2009
Applications are invited for the $7,500 biennial Wine Communicators of Australia Fellowship grant. Potential recipients are invited to submit their proposals for consideration by
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• What I'm drinking... 28 Apr 2009
La Goya Manzanilla of Delgado Zuleta I’ve been drinking this wine frequently, as I knew I would when I gave up the struggle and bought it. Spanish Manzanilla, screwcapped and
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• Penfolds Grange: the verdict 28 Apr 2009
James Halliday tastes the latest vintage - and compares it with a selection from the past 50 years. Sometimes there’s an offer too good to refuse – like an exclusive preview of
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• What I'm drinking... 21 Apr 2009
1984 Leo Buring Leonay Eden Valley Riesling The wine is vibrantly glowing golden-green, almost as if lit by a hidden light within. Lime and toast aromas lead into a palate that
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• Vale Max Lake 16 Apr 2009
The death of Max Lake on April 14 brings to a close a remarkable chapter in the history of Australian wine. He did what no-one before him had done: buy land, plant a vineyard and
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• What I'm drinking... 14 Apr 2009
1995 Marzieno Fattoria Zerbina 1995 Marzieno of Fattoria Zerbina (made by Francesca Zerbina) is a wine I have greatly enjoyed each time I have tasted it over the past nine
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• Thirty vintages later, Montana looks to build on its success 11 Apr 2009
AS Australia seems to be drowning in a sea of Marlborough sauvignon blanc, it is passing strange that its genesis was at best an accident. In 1973, Montana's Frank Yukich followed
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• Celebrate end of vintage 2009 with Nagambie Lakes and Strathbogie winemakers 9 Apr 2009
Mother Nature is a cruel mistress and the 2009 vintage has been a challenging one with low yields and difficult weather conditions. All the more reason to celebrate the end of
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• Tahbilk hosts master petanque tournament 9 Apr 2009
Are you a seasoned ‘petanquer’ or a keen beginner? Either way, bring your boules and we’ll see you at the Tahbilk Masters Doubles being held at the historic Tahbilk winery on
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• Winemakers rally to help Roundstone and Yarra Yarra 8 Apr 2009
The two Yarra Valley wineries to sustain the most damage in the Black Saturday bushfires on February 7 were Roundstone and Yarra Yarra . John and Lynne Derwin of Roundstone
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• What I'm drinking... 7 Apr 2009
2002 Chassagne Montrachet Morgeot Premier Cru Blain Gagnard Yellow-gold; at the peak of its power; a mix of stone fruit, a drizzle of honey and a burnish of oak gives waves of
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• Eurocentric 6 Apr 2009
This is a selection of wines imported by Neville Yates of Eurocentric Wine Imports which I (obviously) appreciated. For availability see www.eurocentricwine.com.au or
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• Where will it all end? 6 Apr 2009
Binge drinking is an issue right around the world, and one which the global wine industry takes very seriously. It does so for two reasons: first, it is a significant health
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• Tragedy when smoke gets in your vines 4 Apr 2009
WHEN English born and trained medical practitioner John Eason and his Australian wife, Janene, left London for Jamieson in the central Victorian high country, they thought they
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Q3 2007 | Q4 2007 | Q1 2008 | Q2 2008 | Q3 2008 | Q4 2008 | Q1 2009 | Q2 2009 | Q3 2009
