Category: Wine Reviews

1959 Karthäuserhof Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg feine Auslese

I was fortunate to attend this small dinner a couple of weekends ago organised by a friend in Sydney, Australia. The theme was based around one of his great passions, German Riesling and as usual he did a great job in the careful sourcing and planing for this dinner. The restaurant Fix St James did […]

Alongside the 1944 Seppelt Sparkling Burgundy that I spoke about in the previous post, we had a number of other icon wines, including 2 bottles of the incredible Seppeltsfield 100yo Para. 2000 Bay of Fires Arras EJ Carr Late Disgorged – Australia, Tasmania Wow. Stunning nose with great depth and power, there are aromas of […]

Another month and another wine tasting that escalated quickly in planning. The original proposal for a modest BYO event ended in an “Australian Icon” tasting including 1888 and 1908 Seppelt Para Port (to be covered in another post), plus this treasure of Australian wine history. Just prior to the dinner, a member contacted the rest […]

Some photos and notes from recent dinner to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Black by Ezard did a great job of hosting us with impressive food and excellent service from the sommelier and team. SASHIMI of hiramasa kingfish, sesame custard, edamame puree, chardonnay and shallot dressing ORGANIC FARM EGG potato cream, iberico jamón, herb salad POTATO […]

I was fortunate a few weekends ago to finally try a wine from the revered Australian winemaker, Maurice O’Shea. O’Shea is regarded as a master and pioneer of the winemaking craft in Australia and his best wines still have the potential to be great, despite the basic conditions under which they were made. The wines […]

Thousand Candles 2011 Shiraz

I recently attended a dinner with winemaker William Downie at The Oak Barrel in Sydney. He has built a solid reputation for his Pinot Noir, first at De Bortoli and then starting in 2003 with his small production self-named label. Recently he has attracted further attention as the winemaker for the “Thousand Candles” project (label […]

Dominique Laurent Bonnes Mares

A few brief notes and photos on a recent dinner at Otto Ristorante in Sydney. The event was a charity dinner for Walk, Talk, Fly with 6 well known local chefs each providing a pasta dish and BYO encouraged. We had some excellent wines, the food was mostly very good and as usual it was […]

A recent visit to 5 cellar doors in the Canberra District wine region. Clonakilla Clonakilla is one of my favourite wineries in Australia and I will often try to time a trip down to Canberra to coincide with the release of the new vintage of their flagship Shiraz Viognier each September. The cellar door is […]

Another month and another great tasting with a regular tasting group. Beaujolais is something I was unsure about before the tasting – I’ve had ones bordering on great but never one that has blown me away and I don’t really get the hype – unfortunately the tasting didn’t push me off the fence either way […]

Dinner at the 1 Michelin star, Alain Ducasse operated, Le Jules Verne. The restaurant is situated on the second level of the Eiffel Tower, 150 metres above ground. From my pre-trip research it receives mixed reviews, swinging wildly between being excellent and an abominable tourist trap. I was hesitant to commit, but in the end […]