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LATEST NEWS
Pyrenees wines to face-off against Europe’s legendary best Award-winning wines from Victoria’s Pyrenees will be benchmarked ...[more]Up with the best For Tim Kirk, former teacher of religion at Melbourne’s Xavier ...[more]
A taste of the Icons Last month d’arenberg invited a group of journalists from around ...[more]
Hunter Valley Wine Show Hart & Hunter Wines is a newcomer, owned by Damien Stevens and ...[more]
2010 Clear Image Hunter Valley Wine Show Trophy Winners 2010 Hart & Hunter Single Vineyard Semillon – Best ...[more]
James Halliday Feature Articles
Q3 2007 | Q4 2007 | Q1 2008 | Q2 2008 | Q3 2008 | Q4 2008 | Q1 2009 | Q2 2009 | Q3 2009 | Q4 2009 | Q1 2010 | Q2 2010 | Q3 2010• Up with the best 28 Aug 2010
For Tim Kirk, former teacher of religion at Melbourne’s Xavier College and now winemaker/owner of Clonakilla in the Canberra District, it is truly a case of as you sow, so shall
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• A taste of the Icons 21 Aug 2010
Last month d’arenberg invited a group of journalists from around Australia for vertical tastings back to ground zero of what it terms its three Icon wines: 23 vintages of
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• Missing out 15 Aug 2010
At the end of a two-day visit to O’Leary Walker Wines near Leasingham in the Clare Valley, a strange question is posed to a group of three journalists, of which I am one: what
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• Turning Japanese 31 Jul 2010
I have visited Japan on many occasions since the mid-1970s, sometimes wearing my (then) lawyer’s hat, more often a wine hat. More than 20 years ago I also heard Sarah Gough speak
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• Spreading his wings 24 Jul 2010
At the age of 47, French Canadian Pascal Marchand is rewriting the boundaries of Flying Winemaking. In his home turf of Burgundy, he is making wine for Domaine Jean Féry et Fils;
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• Ancient and modern 17 Jul 2010
Depending on one’s viewpoint, Greek wines have been made for as long as 6000 years or as little as 15 years. The five producers who recently visited Australia seeking distributors
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• French connection 11 Jul 2010
The Maison de Grand Esprit is a unique project. While Foster’s is the ultimate owner (and financier), the idea came from the sales and marketing skills and vision of Nicolas
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• By a thousand cuts 3 Jul 2010
Dr richard smart, the self-styled “Flying vine-doctor”, and I first crossed paths – or should I say swords – in the ’70s in a public exchange of views on the merits of the
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• Leaner, greener 26 Jun 2010
When voyager Estate’s long-serving and highly regarded winemaker Cliff Royle decided to move elsewhere last year, there was much speculation on who his replacement might be.
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• The flying Spaniard 19 Jun 2010
For various reasons Paola Cabezas-Rhymer has flown under my radar until now. She is winemaker and manager of Summit Estate, a medium-sized winery in Queensland’s Granite Belt,
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• Modestly brilliant 13 Jun 2010
You are unlikely to find your way to Hoddles Creek Estate by accident. While it is a simple matter of turning right (if you are coming from Melbourne) off the Warburton Highway
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• Out of Africa 5 Jun 2010
South africa has game parks that, once visited, get in your blood. Its vineyards in Stellenbosch and Paarl have the most dramatic mountain backdrop of anywhere in the world,
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• 2002 Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes 1er Cru of Louis Carillon 1 Jun 2010
The white burgundies from my cellar here in Monthelie have been a wild ride - some oxidised, some great. 2002 Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes 1er Cru of Louis Carillon, next to
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• Antique tastes 31 May 2010
"Seppeltsfield is a national treasure and should be owned by the state,” declares part-owner Warren Randall. It’s not clear whether this means South Australia or Australia, but it
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• Precision tactics 22 May 2010
The reputation of Mount Langi Ghiran was well established before its acquisition by the Rathbone Wine Group in 2002, and the arrival of Dan Buckle from Yering Station the
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• Evolution of a classic 15 May 2010
In 1978 two ambitious winemakers, Grant Burge and Ian Wilson, used life savings to buy the Krondorf winery from Dalgety Wine Estates. Dalgety was anxious to sell, and the price
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• Good Old Bailey 8 May 2010
When I moved to Melbourne in 1983, I made sure to visit Bailey Carrodus at Yarra Yering more frequently than I had while living in Sydney. The purpose of my visits was to taste –
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• Heavenly Grace 1 May 2010
This old dog can learn new tricks, it seems. Moreover, the lesson involved Henschke’s Hill of Grace, in viticultural terms Australia’s most sacred site. It also involved some
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• Abandon ship 24 Apr 2010
Brand australia was the aircraft carrier that took exports from literally nowhere in 1985 (when we imported as much as we exported) to $2.5 billion in 2004, making the country the
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• Reaping the rewards 17 Apr 2010
The suicide in 1997 of Erwein Matuschka-Greiffenclau, owner of the famous Schloss Vollrads estate, was the most dramatic reminder of the financial challenges facing those who make
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• Adapt to survive 11 Apr 2010
I am, by nature, an optimist, particularly when it comes to man’s ability to invent, explore and adapt. So if, regardless of the cause, global (not regional) warming does result
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• Tahbilk 150th Anniversary Celebration Vertical Tastings 8 Apr 2010
Introduction In serious vertical tastings such as these, my main concern is to provide a relative rank for each wine in the flight, but not to have an over-arching ranking for
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• So much hot air 3 Apr 2010
Climategate is just the tip of the iceberg” was the headline of an article by David Henderson in The Australian on February 16, methodically exposing the ethical and other
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• On the old money 27 Mar 2010
In our egalitarian society we don’t talk much about old money, concentrating instead on cutting down tall poppies. The Purbrick family are very definitely old money, and they’ve
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• Corks and screwcaps 24 Mar 2010
With exceptions such as German and Austrian riesling makers, and a handful (albeit important) of Burgundians, (particularly those who make white burgundy), European winemakers
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• Up for a challenge 21 Mar 2010
How could a japanese lawyer turned diplomat end up as a hands-on grapegrower and winemaker in New Zealand’s Martinborough? Or how, without speaking a word of German when he
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• Wines from Poggiotondo 18 Mar 2010
Alberto Antonini, one of the partners in Greenstone, came through Melbourne the other day, bringing with him the wines from Poggiotondo, the family vineyard and winery commenced
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• Food and Wine Insights quarterly wine report 15 Mar 2010
The Quarterly wine report released by Food and Wine Insights comes up with a surprising set of statistics. Chardonnay and shiraz represent 50% of the conversation within the
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• You say Savagnin, I say Traminer 13 Mar 2010
The history of savagnin, and its relationship to other varieties – most notably gewurztraminer/traminer – is so full of twists and turns, truths and half truths, that Agatha
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• The interloper 13 Mar 2010
After a flurry of excitement, disagreement and disappointment, it has been reluctantly accepted that the variety imported from Spain in 1989 as albarino is in fact the French
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• Trophy winners 2010 Tasmanian Wine Show 8 Mar 2010
DRYSDALE TROPHY – BEST SPARKLING WINE 2003 Arras Grand Vintage Pinot Noir Chardonnay This is in fact a re-badging of what was previously simply known as Arras. When first
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• Apple of my eye 7 Mar 2010
There are many reasons why the Tasmanian Wine Show has always been one of my favourites. There is only one panel, so the three judges taste all the wines. There are far more pinot
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• Terroir Otago 27 Feb 2010
Felton road could fairly claim to be Central Otago’s answer to Marlborough’s Cloudy Bay. Both wineries achieved overnight fame, and have done everything right since. Felton Road
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• $100,000 grant for Taltarni from the Victorian Government 24 Feb 2010
Taltarni has been given a $100,000 grant from the Victorian government as part of its regional investment initiative. The grant will help fund a new grape receival system and
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• Dom Perignon blog 23 Feb 2010
Richard Geoffroy, no stranger to Australia, but also with sole responsibility for the creation of Dom Perignon, has started a blog: www.richardgeoffroy-domperignon.com detailing
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• China Landscape Report released 22 Feb 2010
It’s going to be way out of the price range for small wineries, let alone journalists, but Stephanie Duboudin of www.foodandwineinsights.com .au has formed a partnership with
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• Liquid gold 21 Feb 2010
No one would dispute that Krug is one of the greatest makers of champagne; some would say it is the greatest. Yet it marches to the beat of its own drum, and takes the most
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• Cellars in the Sky Awards 16 Feb 2010
At the annual Cellars in the Sky Awards held in London on February 10, Qantas was awarded Best First Class Red Wine, Best First Class Fortified/Sweet Wine, Best First Class Cellar
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• An artist’s spirit 14 Feb 2010
The cloudy bay finishing school has some fine alumni, such as James Healy, now of Dog Point, and viticulturist Ivan Sutherland. But its most recent graduate, Kevin Judd, is its
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• Vintage report of heatwave followed by hailstorm 11 Feb 2010
Iain Riggs’ vintage report gives a vivid picture of the hail that followed the 46˚C heatwave on November 20. Says Riggs ‘It swept across the lower Hunter Valley, came around
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• Wine for Haiti Appeal 11 Feb 2010
Booze Monkey, which describes itself as a social network for Australian and New Zealand wine lovers, is presently working on a wine auction aimed at raising $100,000 to help the
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• Yalumba named New World Winery of the Year 10 Feb 2010
Congratulations to Yalumba being named New World Winery of the Year by the Wine Enthusiast. This US magazine has a devoted worldwide readership, and the award has real value.
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• Rudi Bauer nominated for the prestigious international Der Feinschmecker Winemaker of the Year Award 10 Feb 2010
The perpetual motion, ever-smiling, Austrian-born Rudi Bauer of Central Otago’s Quartz Reef winery is one of the six 2010 nominees for the prestigious international Der
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• Karl Stockhausen celebrates 80th birthday 9 Feb 2010
As the Hunter Valley largely finished picking semillon at the end of January, and wondered whether January vintage dates would become standard fare, the ever-young Karl
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• $US47k for lunch: quality rather than quantity? 8 Feb 2010
A photograph of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich pointing to his lunch bill (he had five companions) of $US47,221.09 rings true. At the bottom end of the scale of the items on
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• Luigi Di Santo's death marks end of a Legend 8 Feb 2010
The death of Luigi (Gino) Di Santo on 21 January 2010 marked the end of a living Legend of Melbourne Food and Wine, but his contribution will continue to be felt for decades to
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• Vive Leroy 7 Feb 2010
If Robert Parker, Allen Meadows (of Burghound fame), Matt Kramer (Wine Spectator), Clive Coates MW (the most prolific writer on Burgundy) and Andrew Jefford (author of The New
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• On Broadway 31 Jan 2010
It’s an ill wind which blows no one any good. When Slow Food doyen James Broadway’s parents sold their beautiful home at Castlemaine it meant he had to move the wines he had
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• The pinot Bledisloe 23 Jan 2010
Australian sommeliers are convinced that if you can’t afford Burgundy, pinot noir from New Zealand’s Central Otago region is the next best thing, our pinot noirs being dismissed
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• Kirk's Gospel 16 Jan 2010
Tim kirk’s previous job as a teacher of religion at Xavier College in Melbourne explains the blazing conviction of his belief in the potential of the Canberra District for making
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