Image designed by Freepik As restrictions ease in Victoria, cellar doors have been given the green light to open albeit under slightly different circumstances. With that in mind, I headed to the Yarra Valley to see how different things are, if at all. First stop was Giant Steps winery in the new pop-up cellar door […]
Written for Spirito di Vino Asia Issue #24. Image: Redfish Bluefish Photographic. Driving into Healesville, the town around which Australia’s Yarra Valley is centred, I am due for an early morning meeting with Steve Flamsteed, before his day starts to fill up with the duties of Head Winemaker and now part owner of Giant Steps. […]
During my WSET Diploma studying I was searching for as many ways possible to fill my head with the required wine knowledge and in doing so I came across Elizabeth Schneider’s podcast Wine for Normal People. I was hooked after the first episode and WFNP became a staple in my library of resources to stay updated […]
Published The Drinks Business, 7 April 2016. Maurice O’Shea. Credit: Mount Pleasant Wines. The art of blending and the ability to assess individual parts, commit them to memory and create a vast library of aromas, flavours and structures from which to draw on at a point in the future is a unique talent. It is one […]
Entrance to Yarra Valley Dairy Within a fortnight of relocating back to Australia we were in my happy place – the Yarra Valley. In the short time since my last visit a number of new businesses have popped up in Healesville including the new cellar door and distillery for Four Pillars Gin and an excellent […]
Published Wine Times Hong Kong, 21 December 2015. Chat with any winemaker and you are likely to find they have a barrel or two tucked away dedicated to that special project – a side project – representing their latest experiment and quite often, something rather special when it makes it to the glass. The notion of […]
<<<UPDATE JANUARY 2018: Payten & Jones have just opened a cellar door! It’s open 7 days a week so check out their website for hours and be sure to visit. >>> Established in 2006, Payten & Jones are one of those small producers who have steadily built a reputation for producing wines of integrity and quality. The […]
First published Wine Times Hong Kong, September 2015 print edition. (Image credit: Kate Bisset Johnson Photography) As the weather in Hong Kong starts to cool and memories of basking in the sun whilst sipping refreshing white wine on the deck of a junk boat begin to fade, it’s time to turn your thoughts to wines deeper in […]
Yarra Valley. Credit: Rick Liston NOTE: This article was first written in March 2015 and a lot has been happening in ‘The Yarra’ since then. With this in mind, I have included a few updates on the goings-on with cellar doors and so forth. Enjoy! After several years living in Melbourne I’m often asked for […]
Published The Drinks Business 3 February 2015 Wines Tasted Arfion, Yarra Valley, Field Blend, 2012 and 2013 Arfion, Yarra Valley, Pinot Rosé, 2013 Smokestack Lightning, Yarra Valley, Pinot Grigio, 2013 Recently I gave a tasting of wines from small producers in the Yarra Valley for the Hong Kong Wine Society. This is the stuff that get’s […]
Image credit: Four Pillars Gin Gins Tasted Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin, Yarra Valley, Australia G’Vine Floraison, Cognac, France G’Vine Nouaison, Cognac, France A recent review of our cellar revealed that the winery Giant Steps (GS) has a lot to answer for when it comes to my drinking choices. Giant Steps and Innocent Bystander both hold […]
Wines Tasted Jamsheed Wines, Great Western Garden Gully Syrah, 2011 Jamsheed Wines, Healesville, Yarra Valley Syrah, 2011 Jamsheed Wines, Beechworth Syrah, 2011 Before I met Gary Mills, the winemaker of Jamsheed wines in Victoria Australia, I assumed he studied Perisan literature as part of his Bachelor of Literature given the quotes from Rumi and Jamsheed […]
<<<UPDATE JANUARY 2018: Payten & Jones have just opened a cellar door! It’s open 7 days a week so check out their website for hours and be sure to visit. >>> Wines Tasted: Payten & Jones, Pauls Range Chardonnay, 2011 Payten & Jones Valley Vignerons, Syrah, 2012 Recently back in Melbourne I found myself sitting in […]
