December 2016
Wheatsheaf Hotel brews a special kind of pub culture
The 'Trotty Special', composed of Tanqueray, grapefruit and fresh lime juice, is often deployed at The Wheatsheaf Hotel to right the wrongs of the night before.
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November 2016
Wine critics' language turns obscure terms into vivid reality
Dank flowers and smelly armpits are all part of the pleasure in rating wines.
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Greatness in wines is always a patchy business
Even Australia's best and most consistent winemakers are prey to Mother Nature's whims.
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October 2016
The high price of fanaticism over Burgundy wines
What I'm about to say is tantamount to vinicultural sacrilege; words worthy of excommunication from the church of wine worship.
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Christmas pudding gin proves the ultimate festive spirit
These are exciting times for fine white and dark distillates.
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From gin to wine and back again on a visit to TarraWarra Estate
Could the current winemaker obsession with stems be linked to the explosive growth curve of Australian-made gin, a category almost unheard of in 1999?
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September 2016
Italian wine by the book: the Barbaresco encyclopedia
Alessandro Masnaghetti has been called "Italy's vineyard map maestro" - that doesn't cover the half of it.
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Much ado about pinot noir
For a grape so sparsely planted in this country, pinot noir generates excessive interest.
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Wine appreciation is a matter of personal taste (and smell and touch)
It's impossible to understand what something tastes like unless you have sensory reference.
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August 2016
Chianti winemaker lets the wine do the talking
There is great authenticity in the wines of the family estate of San Giusto a Rentennano, in the southern part of Tuscany's Chianti Classico zone.
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Tempranillo crafted by late winemaker Simon Burnell speaks of the man
Willow Bridge's tempranillo has phenomenal depth and strength.
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Rutherglen's venerable Morris winery saved to age with grace
The 11th-hour reprieve of Morris of Rutherglen is good news for Australia and a region that has long produced wines worthy of greater attention.
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July 2016
2014 a great vintage for Hunter shiraz
Every now and then, a "vintage of the century" comes along.
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On the pepper trail in Vienna - and in Austrian wine
Austria's most famous white grape, grüner veltliner, often has distinct white pepperiness.
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June 2016
Gert lush in a couple of yurts
I've slept in a yurt once in my life: at Sue Bell's Glenroy Shearing Station, just north of Penola in South Australia, for the weekend of last month's Sips in the Sticks event.
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Down-to-earth advice from a British master of wine
Price is not necessarily an indicator of a wine's quality and other useful tips from a leading British critic of all things vinous.
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