This Month
Uncorked: Accolade Wines locked in negotiations with Pernod Ricard
In short, if Pernod moves into the ‘trop difficile’ basket, Australian Vintage is waiting in the wings.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
- Drinks With Max Allen
- Life & Leisure
Drinking alone? Here’s how to keep it interesting
Finishing the same bottle off over a few evenings can get a little dull. An Australian company has come up with an innovative alternative.
- Max Allen
April
BHP goes big game hunting on the African savannah
BHP and Anglo American are undisputed industrial champions in their home countries. The vast gap between them says a lot about Australia and South Africa.
- Peter Ker
- Drinks With Max Allen
- Life & Leisure
Gang member turned investigative reporter launches his first wine
Twelve months after his first vintage, Mahmood Fazal is selling a shiraz inspired by a cult label in Spain, Persian poetry and the land of his ancestors.
- Max Allen
Tasting Australia’s $795 debut train trip an instant sell-out
“I’ve come up with a menu that will work in a galley,” chef Asma Khan says of the coming journey. Here’s a taste of this and other events at next month’s culinary extravaganza.
- Necia Wilden
- Drinks With Max Allen
- Life & Leisure
Tasting Australia 2024: a drinker’s guide
A round-up of the best wine-related events at this year’s festival, from parties to tastings to masterclasses and more.
- Max Allen
March
Yarra Valley winery unveils $7m refurb
Victoria’s Balgownie Estate has had a revamp after a major fire in 2020.
- Gus McCubbing
- Drinks With Max Allen
- Life & Leisure
This is one of the best wines I’ve tried all year
The latest vintage of Dalwhinnie’s Eagle shiraz has landed – and it’s easily the best young Eagle I can remember tasting.
- Max Allen
February
- Drinks With Max Allen
- Life & Leisure
When in McLaren Vale, drink like an Italian
South Australia’s acclaimed wine region is just 33 kilometres from Adelaide. Here are eight cellar doors to try, and their top drops.
- Max Allen
- Drinks With Max Allen
- Life & Leisure
Sparkletown is much more than a vineyard for this winemaker
Luke Lambert has finally realised a dream, buying a tiny plot of land north of the Yarra Valley in a quest to make the ultimate nebbiolo.
- Max Allen
- Drinks With Max Allen
- Life & Leisure
How a ‘write-off’ vintage spawned these top sparkling wines
Torrential, flooding, incessant rain… that was 2011. But the whites from that year are among the most cellar-worthy this writer has tried.
- Max Allen
January
- Drinks By Max Allen
- Life & Leisure
Why you should stock your cellar with this riesling
The late John Vickery was respected, among other achievements, for converting us from corks to screwtops. But it’s the wines he made post retirement that are his finest legacy.
- Max Allen
December 2023
- Max Allen
- Life & Leisure
Two Australians walked into a French cellar, and this happened
Leanne De Bortoli and Steve Webber arrived unannounced on Charles Fourny’s doorstep 10 years ago, with the result his fine bubbly is available Down Under today.
- Max Allen
What’s the best wine for $50, and 37 other wine questions answered
The AFR’s award-winning drinks writer provides the ultimate guide to buying, drinking, serving and storing wine.
- Max Allen
Max Allen answers your questions about serving and storing wine
The AFR’s award-winning drinks writer talks us through all questions about serving and storing wine, like ‘can I put ice cubes in my wine’ to ‘which wines do I need to decant’?
- Max Allen
Max Allen answers your questions about buying wine
The AFR’s award-winning drinks writer talks us through all questions about buying wine, from ‘is cask wine any good?’ to ‘what’s the most overrated type of wine?’
- Max Allen
Max Allen answers 12 of your basic wine questions
The AFR’s award-winning drinks writer talks us through all the questions you were too afraid to ask, like, ‘what is natural wine’ and ‘do hangover drops really work’?
- Max Allen
November 2023
- Max Allen
- Life & Leisure
How this fourth-generation winemaker inherited a flair for longevity
Hailing from d’Arenberg in McLaren Vale, Chester Osborn has released a trio of grenache wines crafted to reflect and weather the sands of time.
- Max Allen
- Max Allen
- Life & Leisure
This wine guru is putting the sparkle into a Tasmanian vineyard
Chief executive Michael Kluczko is taking a multi-vintage approach to achieve a competitive edge.
- Max Allen
October 2023
Seppeltsfield owner’s vineyard shopping spree targets Millennials
Leading South Australian winemaker Warren Randall has made two organic wine acquisitions in three months, with more to come, to attract younger customers.
- Campbell Kwan