Journal

Longer notes on the wines I keep coming back to, the regions worth knowing, and the questions I get asked most.

Chinese Wine, Part One: Puchang in Turpan

I opened a Rkatsiteli 2019 and a Saperavi 2016 from Puchang Vineyard in Xinjiang, bought in Hong Kong before COVID, to see whether two bottles picked almost at random could hold their ground.

Picking Wines for a Subscription Box

Choosing wines for a friend's subscription box at a trade tasting of new releases, and the bottles I would buy for myself.

Beautiful and Expensive: Robert Weil at Rathdowne Cellars

I tasted six dry Rieslings from Robert Weil at a free Saturday tasting at Rathdowne Cellars, including a young Gräfenberg GG beside its older self, and then asked whether the shop, the market or the producer sets the price.

Chianti Against Brunello at the Festa della Toscana

Thirty-two Tuscan wines at Prince Wine Store, where Montalcino won on merit and the Riserva bottles did not.

Reading the Weather at Kumeu River

Ten wines from New Zealand's most celebrated Chardonnay producer, and what a defoliated vineyard and a forty per cent yield loss actually taste like.

Still a Dark Horse at Sandhurst Ridge

A Bendigo winery selling nine-year-old Shiraz for thirty dollars, which changed hands last year and appears not to have changed at all.

A Second Look at Whistling Eagle

A $10 Wednesday tasting in a Bendigo bank building, five wines from a Heathcote family winery, and the Sangiovese I scored too low two years ago.

Not the Usual Suspects at Prince Wine Store

A walk-around tasting of lesser known grapes at Prince Wine Store, and why the cheaper bottles told the better story.