The Dal Zotto prosecco story is the stuff of legends. Just over a decade ago Otto Dal Zotto, King Valley tobacco grower turned grape grower and winemaker, launched…
Chrismont Wines’s sleek new King Valley cellar door could be considered a sharpened-up new-world version of ‘Streamline Moderne’ – an architectural style of the late Art Deco era that emphasised long…
Rutherglen’s Simon Killeen has gone it alone, sourcing fruit across North East Victoria for his new wine label Simão & Co. Essentials spoke with Simon about his pop-up…
The air is still and warm. The leaves on the vine are beginning to turn, some yellow, others russet and golden. Rutherglen Estates’ winemaker Marc Scalzo wanders the…
I’ve been lucky enough to know Alfredo ‘Fred’ Pizzini for quite a while and I’ve never seen him quite like this. He’s clearly rattled and seems a bit…
Review: Rutherglen Estates 2014 Tempranillo The Rutherglen Estates’ Tempranillo wine lifts the bar with a sweet, succulent and rich bouquet. It’s everything a ripe and lush Spanish-styled tempranillo…
Matthew Jukes discovers a new breed of wildy expressive ‘young gun’ table wines among the historic fortified classics of Rutherglen, Victoria. I recently had the honour of tasting…
Extraordinary UK wine columnist Matthew Jukes is regarded as one of the world’s leading wine writers, having worked in the wine trade since 1987. He hosts corporate and consumer wine…
Chef Mark Mason takes a stubby knife. He grabs a container from the kitchen bench and steps out into clear morning light of the King Valley. Mason is…
Popular, affordable bottle shop brands vs boutique cellar door wines. I have a confession to make. When I walk into my local supermarket bottle shop, I wouldn’t have…
Logically, many Australian winemakers growing vines in our cooler climates admire and study techniques developed in some of Europe’s greatest wine regions such as Alsace in France’s north-east,…
Penny Grant, whose passion for wine started as a kid, picking and stomping grapes with close family friends at BlackJack wines in central Victoria, decided at the age…
Spring has arrived at Tahbilk and the place is buzzing. At this winery on the banks of the Goulburn River near Nagambie, not only have the buds burst…
If there’s one thing Australian winemakers have become great at, it’s experimenting with new wine varietals and clones, often grafting them onto well-established rootstock, then monitoring fruit production…
King Valley, Victoria – La Dolce Vita Wine and Food Festival, 15 & 16 NOVEMBER 2014 Festival Highlights Dal Zotto – Primavera del Prosecco Join the Dal Zotto…
Dal Zotto 2009 Nebbiolo (this vintage sold out) Deciding exactly which vintage of Dal Zotto Nebbiolo to sample and review for this article was a bit of a no-brainer,…
I’ll admit it; I’m obsessed with wine. Not just any wine… Australian wine. Not always reds, but they tend to be a preference. The huge diversity of fabulously…
Matthew Jukes’ 100 Best Australian Wines 2014/15 – 11th edition, launched. Britain’s most widely read wine critic, Matthew Jukes, launched his 100 Best Australian Wines 2014/15 early this…
A ride on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle following the King Valley’s corkscrew bends is just one way Trevor Knaggs likes to cool down at the height of summer. ‘I…
Yileena Park 2010 Pinot Noir Regular readers of Essentials will know that I’m a bit partial to the great luscious reds wines of the boutique Yarra Valley label…
The board might have sympathised! with the growers of what used to be Australian sherry however in recognition of Spain’s claim to that name, Australia had to invent its…