Category: South Australia

The Nepalese Kitchen is a busy restaurant in Surry Hills. The food and spicing wasn’t ideal for wine matching, but I thought it had good flavour and there were lots of vegetarian options. Plus, at $121AUD for 6 people, the value was excellent. The downsides were that we were shifted from place to place, initially […]

Fast Facts: Variety: Riesling Region: Clare Valley, South Australia Country: Australia Winemaker: Brian Croser Closure: Cork Alcohol: 12.8% At the time that this was initially released, Brian Croser said that he thought that this was the best Riesling made from the Hanlin Hill vineyard since the famous 1980 Petaluma Riesling. This was the 23rd consecutive […]

All wines were tasted blind at dinner with some friends from the Winestar Forum with the exception of my bottles which were the Bindi, Sorrenberg and the Elk Cove. Bollinger R.D 1988 – (Champagne, France): Disgorged May 2000. Tarnished gold in colour. Toast, walnut, yeasty dough, pears and slightly oxidative nose. Palate is intense but […]

Some notes taken at a dinner attended by some fellow wine lovers – Seppelt Show Sparkling Shiraz 1990 – (Grampians, Victoria): A nice way to start the proceedings. Blackberry, cherry, spice, violets and earthy characters on the nose. Nice rich mouth-feel, with a bit of sweetness on the palate. Good, long finish. 88/100 Dry River […]

Jeffrey Grosset has been at the forefront of Australian Riesling production over the past two decades. He makes a range of wines, but none are more famed than his two Rieslings, one from Polish Hill and one from Watervale – both located in the Clare Valley in South Australia. Generally it is said that the […]

This Shiraz/Viognier blend from Petaluma is not as well known as their Riesling, Merlot or their Cabernet blend – but has still received some excellent reviews from Australian wine critics. Tasting Note: Youthful colour and a not-at-all shy nose – blackcurrants, ripe cherry, clove and other assorted spices along with a fair amount of oak […]

I’ve written previously about a very special wine which was the Seppelt 1905 Para Liqueur Vintage Tawny and so I was obviously interested to try some of the other wines in the Seppelt fortified wine range, including the 1880 version of the same wine. The notes from the event follow … First Flight – DP […]

Last month Australia’s largest wine company Southcorp (now part of Fosters and even bigger) put on its annual road-show to showcase its wines across major capital cities. In Sydney, this was held at the completely refurbished Hilton hotel that was reopened in July. As often happens at these public events it didn’t take long to […]

A number of people I know were interested in tasting the Chris Ringland Shiraz, formerly known as “Three Rivers” before he was forced to change the name. This wine is a super small production Shiraz from the Barossa Valley and made by Chris Ringland of Rockford fame. Ever since Mr Robert Parker took a liking […]

Some wines brought along and tasted blind at a dinner with some fellow wine aficionados ; Leo Buring Leonay Watervale Riesling 1992 – (Clare Valley, South Australia): Yellow gold in colour. All honey and toast with a touch of lanolin. Good length and was holding together structurally. A couple of comments around the table were […]