PICKING your Christmas cheer at the local does NOT mean heaps of beer, the odd cleanskin red and white, and a bottle of “sparkling spumante for the sheilas”. A bit of thought in advance means a whole lot more fun and smiles all round from your guests. “…The night before Christmas…” With the rellies in [...]
LAST week we looked at the style of wine that was best suited for a birthday or wedding. This week let’s look at functions at home. Dinner parties Offer guests on arrival sparkling wine, beer, or a lighter white wine. Resist the call for a glass of red at that time, if you can, but [...]
I OCCASIONALLY come across a unique breed of wine lover – the person that will drink absolutely nothing else other than a particular style of wine. For many this is health related, with adverse reactions to sulphites (white wine) or histamines (red wine) not being uncommon. But others have a “one-track” palate. Whatever the occasion [...]
WINE is a living thing. Like humans, it can lose its vitality and start to tire with the passage of time. Aussie wine lovers very often keep their precious bottles for far too long. Even lots of my savvy wine friends admit to have some “dogs” in their cellars, which they bitterly regret not having [...]
EVERY couple of years, I head to Burgundy for the Grand Jours, a five day exhibition of the best that Burgundy has to offer. One of the events is the Salon de Jeunes Vignerons, an event showcasing exclusively wines from up and coming young wine makers. And is it exciting stuff! Attention to detail, and [...]
THROUGHOUT history, wine has been a social lubricant, stimulating conversation, stimulating good feelings and inevitably laughter. And so it is no surprise that wine and humour are natural “bedfellows”. So let’s forget wine education for now – this week you should lighten up a little and (I hope) enjoy a good laugh – it’s good [...]
WHEN Dr Christopher Penfold purchased the Magill Estate in 1844, he would have never envisaged the footprint he would leave on the Australian wine trade. A century later, Penfolds became the “play thing” of the big corporates including Adelaide’s Steamship Company and then Southcorp (now part of Treasury Wine Estates). Although Penfolds focused on fortified [...]
THIS week we look at clearing up a few wine conundrums for you. My son has just been born – what wine should I put down for his 21st? Firstly, make sure it’s not an Aussie Chardonnay or sparkling wine! The wines with the best track records are classic Australian reds (Grange, Hill of Grace [...]
YEP! It’s that time of year again, when seemingly intelligent people believe that, after a year’s abstinence from gambling, that THEY have the perfect betting system: look for the grey horse with a black left ear, or the jockey in pink polka dots – they ALWAYS win, don’t they? No wonder bubbles are popular at [...]
THERE are not many items in this modern age that have enjoyed consistent popularity for around 8000 years. Jousting and chariot races have fallen out of fashion and the iPod generation is only an eye blink old. The continuing favourite has been that wonderful stuff called wine, which has given pleasure (and pain) since around [...]