Anthony Albanese’s wine tasting trip in WA leaves a sour taste

Anthony Albanese has been slammed for spending a week in WA tasting $500 bottles of wine while Australians are battling a cost-of-living crisis.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been slammed by the Opposition for spending a week in WA tasting $500 bottles of wine during a cost-of-living crisis.

In a move that threatens to revive memories of Scott Morrison’s ill-fated holiday to Hawaii, social media posts have revealed Mr Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon spent last week visiting wineries in Western Australia’s Margaret River.

During the visit the pair dropped into Cullen Wines at Wilyabrup where, according to an Instagram post from the vineyard, “they enjoyed an exclusive seated tasting”.

Wines sipped included Cullen’s 2017 Vanya Flower Day cabernet sauvignon, whose grapes were hand-picked and “wild-fermented in terracotta amphorae, then pressed to French barriques”.

It currently retails online from between $468 and $514 a bottle.

Michaelia Cash (left) has slammed Anthony Albanese for supping expensive wines in WA while ordinary Aussies are battling a cost-of-living crisis.

Other reds tasted included Cullen’s Diana Madeline Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, which can be had for $220, as well as a white in the form of the 2021 Legacy Series Fruit Day Kevin John Chardonnay, which costs $350 a bottle.

In its newsletter to subscribers, Cullen Wines’s cellar door manager Cristan Astudillo, said the PM “has a big appreciation for the wines of the this region” and had showed “a big interest” in the wines he had sampled which had brought “big smiles” to the couple’s faces.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and partner Jodie Haydon visit Cullen Wines in WA.

In 2019, then-PM Scott Morrison copped criticism for flying to Hawaii during the Black Summer bushfires. Picture: Ben Parsons X

Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash said many Australians were “battling with even the basics this Christmas — let alone tasting expensive bottles of wine”.

She said that while “every Australian deserves a decent holiday, we can’t help but wonder if our Prime Minister has lost touch with the struggles of everyday Australians”.

“Australians are facing a tough Christmas because Mr Albanese’s focus is on all the wrong priorities. He is out of touch with the reality of the negative impact of his government’s policies are having on Australians,” Ms Cash said.

The couple also visited Pierro Margaret River Vineyard on Thursday, later posting on Instagram: “It’s pretty cool that the leader of one of the best countries in the world can come in with his partner for a casual wine tasting (unannounced) on a Thursday afternoon and hang out and sink a few wines with the work crew. Very casual, great chat and good times.”

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Originally published as Anthony Albanese’s wine tasting trip in WA leaves a sour taste