Why don’t you rate wines? I have been asked several times why when I’m reviewing or writing about wines, why I don’t offer them a score or a numerical rating. Aside from not being a really efficient numbers person – maths has never been my strong suit – I don’t score wines because I want [...]
Archive for the ‘Half Full or Half Empty?’ Category
The Ben Ean Still: for Breathe Magazine
Posted in Half Full or Half Empty?, tagged Australian, Ben ean, brandy, cessnock, chardonnay, dr Henry lindeman, evolution, fortified, heritage, history, hunter river Riesling, hunter valley, interview, Karl, lindemans, McDonald's road, mcguigans, Moselle, palate, palates, pokolbin, port, reds, Sauvignon Blanc, semillon, sherry, Shiraz, still, still house, stillhouse, stockhausen, sweet, taste, tasting, the semillon Blanc, wine, winemaking on December 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The Ben Ean Still – 2011 Heritage Award winner …. Hunter Valley Living Legend Karl Stockhausen shares the history & stories of this wonderful Hunter Valley icon with Rhiannon Stevens. Each year in the Hunter Valley, we celebrate and acknowledge excellence with our Wine Industry Awards and induction of our Hunter Valley Legends. In 2011, [...]
Mud, blood, bugs, sweat and tears
Posted in Half Full or Half Empty?, Wine Knowledge, tagged beer, faults, hand picking, harvest, hunter valley, mechanical harvester, mud, Pinot Noir, Port Stephens, summer, Vintage, wine, wine industry, Wonganella on September 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Growing up, my mum worked weekends in cellar door and so I spent a lot of time with my grandparents who were viticulturists. My family came to NSW from South Australia in order to plant the former Saxonvale vineyard, at Broke. (This was eventually purchased and sold to the mining industry by Michael Hope, the [...]
Bring back the romance
Posted in Half Full or Half Empty?, tagged 2007 Vintage, Australian, bottle shop, breathe magazine, cellar door, Chambourcin, chardonnay, Charmat, convenience, dan murphys, French oak, Gartelmann, Graveyard, hunter valley, iga liquor, labels, Leaves & Fishes, Lovedale, never-never wine rack, New Zealand, quaffers, quality, regions, romance, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz, styles, terroir, varietals, Viognier, Wandin Valley, wild yeast, wine, winemakers on March 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The subject of wine has allure, fable and mystery interwoven within its being. The practice of buying wine should also be a romantic experience, right? Imagine this: Driving slowly through the entrance, you’ve been looking forward to this all day. You steer the car into the next available park. It’s busier than you expected, nevertheless [...]
I [HEART] Chardonnay
Posted in Half Full or Half Empty?, tagged Chardies, chardonnay, Cuvee, fashion, lady gaga, oak, palate, people, Petaluma, Petersons Wines, rich, Sauvignon Blanc, Scarborough, unoaked, Viognier, wild yeast, wine on July 15, 2010 | 2 Comments »
For those of you who know me, you would know that I love Chardonnay. Call me old fashioned – BUT in my favour I am a product of the 80′s, and I am very similar to my mum who also loves Chardonnay. I might talk wine all day, and enjoy a large plethora of varieties, but [...]
Fabulous Night in Sydney
Posted in Half Full or Half Empty?, tagged Australia, bubbly, Chardies, Charmat, Cheers!, Cuvee, drinking, Durif, eating, Harbourview, hunter valley, North Sydney, Sydney, Sydney Harbour, Sydney Harbour Bridge, views, wine on July 10, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Not really a wine focused blog entry, but thought I would share it with you anyways… We just took a night off from everything and spent a lovely night in North Sydney. The Views from our room were spectacular. We started in the afternoon with a complimentary easy drinking Charmat “Cuvee” Bubbles provided by the Hotel, shared a [...]
*From a Bottle!*
Posted in Half Full or Half Empty?, tagged Bingo, Blue Rinse, bouquet, Bowling Club, bubbly, Cask, chardonnay, Charmat, cheap, colour, Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley, Dry red, flute, From a Bottle, hunter valley, Karl Stockhausen, Legend, Methode Champenoise, Muscatel, oak, oak chipped, palate, Peacock Hill, Sparkling Wine, stone fruits, Stony Peak, supermarket wines, varieties, wine, winemaker on June 22, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Recently, I visited my local Bowling Club. Don’t judge me. Yes I know where my local club is, yes I’m a member. I ordered a glass of Chardonnay absent mindedly. Then I realised this could be fatal and sharply added *From a Bottle!* as a stipulation to my order. Until this moment, I had no [...]
Teenage Mutant Ninja Pinots?
Posted in Half Full or Half Empty?, Wine Knowledge, tagged bunches, Champagne, cold climate, complex, fermentation, genetically unstable, mutate, pain in the arse, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, red fruit, robust, Sideways, thin skin, varieties, vineyard on June 20, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Pinot Noir is a pain in the arse. Why? Small tight little bunches. Low yielding. Thin Skin = susceptible to fungal disease, bunch rot, skins splitting. Thin Skin = Sometimes leads to a crap colour. Needs a cold climate. Sentitive to light. Sensitive to everything (needy). Loves air. Loves it so much it will Over Dose [...]
What’s in a Name? Mules of the Wine World.
Posted in Half Full or Half Empty?, Wine Knowledge, tagged ancestries, Australia, bastard, blackcurrant, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, cassis, Chambourcin, chardonnay, Cheers!, cross-pollinating, dirty weekend, disease, disease resistant, DNA, Durif, Epic Fail, European Union, French, grape, herbaceous, hunter valley, hybrids, Italy, Johannes Seyve, Loire Valley, Merlot, North American, old world, pairing, parentage, Peloursin, Petite Sirah, Primitivo, raspberry, regional, romantic, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz, Sparkling red, Syrah, terroir, tobacco, tradition, varieties, vineyard, wine, zinfandel on June 20, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Hybrids. What do we know about them? Cheap to run, fuel saving, energy efficient… Disease Resistant?! Hybrids of the wine world are those single varieties which are genetic result of two or more other grape varieties. But how prominent are hybridised varieties in the Australian Market? They might be more common than you think. Is Chambourcin the mule [...]
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