– GO TO ROOTSTOCK! – Just about every Australian and New Zealand winegrower I’ve written about, here on The Wine Idealist, will be at this weekends festival. Taste their natural, organic and biodynamic wines and meet them all in person, along with an entire two days jam packed with international winegrowers, artisan food, beer and … Continue reading Go! to Rootstock, Sydney – 2014
An infinite streak of bright blue stretches out over bush green hills, valleys, gullies and pockets of red terracotta earth. Contrasting against the enormous sky, equally impressive white, grey, and black sentinels hang silent in the air, providing this familiar scene with a sense of awe, calm, and a hint of warning. They drift over … Continue reading Obscured By Clouds – Part 1 – FBW/R – V.14 – H.V.
Bloody good, if you ask me. In 2013 I had the distinct privilege of speaking to so many passionate winegrowers and makers throughout Australia (and New Zealand) all because I wanted to find out if more bottles like Castagna’s Genesis Syrah existed across this wide brown land. What I found was not only are there … Continue reading Happy 2014! – How Good is the Aussie Wine Scene?
May, 2012. Having quit my job at the BBC, and swapping it for a full time gig in a wine bar just down the road, I was asked by, my boss, to attend the first ever Real Wine Fair, in London. I was to attend, as a representative of the west London bar, Albertine, and report back, … Continue reading An Origin Story… Genesis – The Wine Idealist Is One Year Old
Time that is moved by little fidget wheels Is not my time, the flood that does not flow. Between the double and the single bell Of a ship’s hour, between a round of bells From the dark warship riding there below, I have lived many lives, and this one life Of Joe, long dead, who … Continue reading Balancing The Contradiction – Living Between Five Bells
The Hunter Valley has cast a long shadow over the NSW wine scene for many, many decades, and for good reason too, as it is Australia’s first, and oldest wine growing region. And then, there is the sleeping giant of Orange, located approximately 3 hours west of Sydney, which is, today, one of Australia’s fastest … Continue reading Out From The Shadows – Alex Retief and The Wines of NSW.
The idea was simple. An informal degustation dinner to recognise four organic wineries in the Hunter Valley, and showcase their wines alongside a simple fair of food and good company. I wanted to promote the idea of wine idealism – wines that recognise their sense of time and place (terroir) in an authentic and honest … Continue reading What’s In Your Glass? – Newcastle’s First ‘Real Wine’ Event.
The story of a more sustainable approach to food production and, consequently, consumption, is played out every weekend at an increasing number of farmer’s markets right across Australia and New Zealand. Whether it be sunshine or rain, these primary producers wheel out, stack, and showcase their locally grown produce for local conscientious consumers to inspect, … Continue reading On The Frontline – The Sommeliers Story of Natural, Organic and Biodynamic Wines.
Natural wines are, apparently, the most divisive topic in the wine world right now. Well, if that is the case, then someone forgot to tell that to the fifteen or so curious people that showed up to Real Food, in Newtown, on Tuesday night. Co-conspirators Mike Bennie (wine writer, terroirist, and dab hand at organising artisan … Continue reading Licking Molten Lava with Mike Bennie
It was a Wednesday night in Sydney. The Tuesday before, I’d been invited down, by Richard Harkham, to a tasting at Circular Quay, to explore and experience ‘What’s New’ from Andrew Guard‘s most fascinating and most delicious bottles from Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Many of the bottles he had on show were fine examples … Continue reading Haunting Wines, Madmen, and some band you’ve probably never heard of…
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