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Winemakers

This Month

Margaret River lands the world’s best vineyard awards

This year will be the first time The World’s Best 50 Vineyards announcement ceremony has been held outside Europe and the Americas.

June

A special terroir is a special terroir, regardless of the ebbs and flows of the market and changing tastes.

Why these Australian wines are at risk of extinction

Just outside Bendigo, Australia’s first ‘city of gastronomy’, is a vineyard that for decades has made superb cabernet and shiraz. It’s almost certain to disappear.

Harvest at Birichino.

California’s best-kept wine secrets: 5 bottles to discover

There’s so much more to America’s biggest wine region than chardonnay and cab sav.

Winemaker Pete Dillon from Handpicked Wines at the Capella Vineyard in Bittern on the Mornington Peninsula.

Pond bugs signal a clean bill of health for this Victorian vineyard

Once-sickly vines at Mornington Peninsula winery Capella have been nursed back to health thanks to an all-natural approach.

May

Grape grower Bruno Brombal estimates 15 per cent of vineyards in the Riverina region may have been pulled up.

Bulldozers in the vineyards a poor omen for struggling winemakers

Bruno Brombal has seen plenty over his decades as a Riverina grape grower. But amid a never-ending wine glut, he says the best business to be in is excavation.

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An early morning in the Kiss vineyard, hand-picking Shiraz.

How younger drinkers are shaping Australia’s wine industry

A top winemaker is defying the market by releasing more shirazes than ever before – and he has the young wine drinker in his sights.

April

Oraterra’s chief winemaker Wilco Lam is inspired by place and heritage.

The New Zealand wine that’ll change the way you drink pinot noir

As new custodians of an old site, winemaker Wilco Lam and his team are creating something special.

March

The other white burgundy is stepping out of chardonnay’s shadow

After years of neglect, both at home and abroad, it’s the little-known aligoté’s time to shine, owing to a warming climate and some determined winemakers.

New Zealand pops its cork for one of the world’s great wine festivals

All things pinot noir were up for discussion at this three-day celebration of the crowd-pleasing varietal in Christchurch.

February

Forget sauvignon blanc – 2025 is all about souvignier gris

Welcome to Utopia, where wines are produced from new, resilient grapes that are causing a stir.

The winemaker you need to know (though she doesn’t care if you don’t)

Former reality show contestant and TV presenter Sierra Reed got obsessed with wine while filming in New Zealand in 2011. She’s been doing it her way ever since.

January

Barossa winemaker proves busy people can have it all. Well, sort of

With two vineyards, a winery and a two-year-old, “Life’s a bit ... saturated,” says Brett Grock. Still, he’s found the time to put his artwork on his labels.

Bottles of the Pierre PŽters flagship Champagne in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, France.

A beginner’s guide to perpetual champagne

A growing number of producers are blending significant portions of their reserve wines together, creating what they call a perpetual reserve.

December 2024

Wine for sale at a store in Shanghai. Chinese consumers have cut their spending on fine wines.

Fine wine market in the red as Chinese demand dries up

The falls mark a second consecutive tough year for the industry, which was hit in 2023 by higher interest rates and dwindling sales from Asia.

November 2024

Is this Australia’s best shiraz?

These wine show judges certainly think so: the Great Australian Shiraz Challenge turns 30, and it’s needed now more than ever.

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October 2024

Ed Carr.

This Australian winemaker has just won a global award for his sparkling

Ed Carr is more than happy to pick up the international awards and bring them home to a smaller, local wine company.

Ed Peter.

Ed Peter’s Duxton Pubs dangles 2025 IPO as it seeks $35m

Some parts of Peter’s South Australian business empire have come under pressure as investors get cold feet.

The 62-hectare farming property rezoned for residential development at 147 McAllister Road, Bilambil Heights in northern NSW is being offered for sale with a price guide of $182 million. 

A 62ha development site in Tweed Shire hits market with $182m hopes

The family-owned former fruit farm in part of northern NSW that has been rezoned for development is just a 13-minute drive from the Gold Coast.

September 2024

anthony pieri

Melbourne dining powerhouse wins award for country’s best wine list

Gimlet’s head sommelier says the key to success is paying the same level of attention to someone drinking by the glass as to a high-roller ordering a $12,000 bottle.

August 2024

How a dinner conversation led to a vineyard purchase

Novice owners are writing the next chapter at a top Mornington Peninsula estate.

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