Scott Taylor

EVERY year, Howard Park owners Jeff and Amy Burch hold an international pinot tasting at their Margaret River property.

I DON’T like shiraz. Well, that’s not exactly accurate; when I first started really getting into wine, I didn’t like shiraz. 

THE Rhone Valley is home to the Shiraz grape as well as Grenache, Mourvedre and a few cool white varieties.

CHARDONNAY and I have a (now not-so) secret love affair going on; there’s nothing quite like it – a good bottle shows power and grace, elegance, texture, structure – the whole shebang.

I WONDER if wine shows have lost their relevance.

HAVE you ever heard of the Burghound? He’s a wine geek based in the US who, after finishing up as a CFO for a Fortune 500 company, decided to embark on a completely new career as a wine reviewer.

BEING a pinot fanatic is like being a West Coast Eagles fan, you’re never sure what’s going to happen on game day. It is either exquisite perfection, flowing poetry, graceful nuance and universal mastery or a thunderously clumsy, disjointed jumble that ma

THERE’S a bloke in South Australia’s Clare Valley, a grape grower, his name is Martin Smith; apparently he’s over 65 but to tal

THE retail liquor industry changed for good during the recent Christmas period.

DECEMBER already! I’m sure you’ll agree 2010 was a blur. We have all had a busy year at the coalface and now we are faced with the biggest decision of the year – what to drink this Christmas. Do we stick with the cheap and cheerful Aussie bubbles or have

I’M not sure if you’ve noticed, but the Great Southern has been producing some blindingly good cabernets over the last few years. There is talk around the traps that they may even be challenging Margaret River for the title of best cabernet region.

THE Western Australian wine industry is under siege.

EVERYONE in the wine trade hangs out to get an invite with the words ‘benchmark tasting’ written on it.

BIODYNAMICS in the vineyard is a system of farming reliant on the cycles of the moon and mystical preparations buried in a cow’s horn in the vineyard according to celestial indicators.

EN Primeur is a yearly campaign launched each spring by the producers and ‘negociants’ of Bordeaux to drum up interest and sell

BORDEAUX in France is the birthplace of cabernet-based reds.

THANK goodness the cold weather is here. It’s the perfect time for Western Australian wine lovers to cuddle up with a tasty tipple and help stave off the winter cold.

DID you read the weekend paper a fortnight ago? Page three featured an article quoting Peter Forrestal, who had some derisive things to say about wine labels. He described how the trend away from traditional, conservative labels towards those that were

THE 2010 vintage is well and truly under way and it looks like we’re in for another stellar year, meaning this will be the fourth successive year the South West has produced a stunning crop of exciting wines.

LAST month, my column focused on some of the old-world grape varieties starting to gain favour with Australian winemakers and consumers.

LET’S be honest, New Year’s resolutions seldom have impetus past mid-January, so why not set yourself a goal that is enjoyable and at least has some hope of being achieved, like learning more about wine.

NOTHING says festive season more aptly than the pop of a cork from a bottle of fizz, but in these times of tight belts and Scroogish sentiment, shall we shave the Christmas spend a tad by going for the cheaper option this Noel?

IS fancying a French really considered cheating? Ive had a bad week.

IF you spend more than a few moments with David Hohnen you'll soon hear the words 'second generation'.

BIG news and a big win from across the sea in the land of the long white pom.

WHEN you think of fortified wines your first reaction may be to recall fond memories of your grandma's favourite desserts, dripping with ample amounts of sherry or marsala.

FOR many wine drinkers, the word chianti conjures up images of red and white checked tablecloths, men (and often women) with an abundance of chest hair, and those squat, cane-wrapped bottles of brick-red wine more suited to stripping paint than accompanyi

I RECKON New Zealand sauvignon blanc might have shot itself in the foot.

SO, I'm just going to come straight out and say it; the 2006 Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay may well be the greatest white wine ever made in Australia.

ATTENTION all cabernet fans, there's a new kid on the block that's definitely going to shake things up a bit.

The best kind of promotion WOULDN'T it be nice if advertising executives the world over told it like it is instead of trying to dazzle us with gimmicks and slogans? I think the guys at Fraser Gallop Estate feel the same way.