I’m convinced I’ve got some Italian blood pumping through my veins. Maybe my mother’s kept a dark secret from me all these years. When I’m out grazing, it’s nearly always in Italian restaurants. Even when we’re on vacation or when I’m working the “other” side of the Pond, ...

OK, it’s no secret that my favourite grape variety in the entire world, is the Riesling. It’s what wine is all about. The very essence of wine appreciation. A grape with so much subtle nuance, it could have been a matinee idol with a pencil thin moustache. Riesling ...

I always slip into the Holiday season with a glass of fizz and a delicately cut tray of smoked salmon sandwiches on slim slices of white bread spread with a layer of Danish "Lurpak" or “Plugra” brand unsalted butter.  The wife, our 24 year old daughter and I ...

The falling leaves drift by my window, The falling leaves of red and gold, I see your lips, the summer kisses, The sunburned hands I used to hold. The days are getting a little cooler, the ice cream lines have melted away, and the leaves are a shade darker. ...

Hope Estate produces wines with the typical Aussie twinkle in their eyes but also a mature intensity to their deceivingly complex character.  This, for me, is the allure of Australian wine. It takes itself seriously but still maintains a sense of irony, delivering it’s own “spin” on a ...