James Halliday’s articles
The underdog – these days, grenache old vines are treasured, not trashed
It's anthropomorphic to suggest that grenache has every reason to feel bitter and twisted about its treatment across countries and centuries. Even Jancis Robinson MW damns it with faint praise in her masterwork Wine Grapes at p. 398 'Very widely...
The flying winemaker
Domaine Wine Shippers (DWS) is one of Australia's foremost importers and distributors of the fine wines of Europe, and France in particular. Here one region – Burgundy – is of key importance, and these days the world-wide demand for its wines far...
My life in wine – Medhurst Road wineries
For most of my working life I had two concurrent lives, one as a corporate lawyer in Sydney/Melbourne, the other incubated in my parents’ walk-in wine cellar, filled with Lindemans Hunter River wines (1952-61). Wheels within wheels 35 years later...
A toast to the Barossa
The Barossa is Australia's calling card for wine lovers of all ages and origins. Named thus it also includes the Eden Valley, the Barossa Valley its blood brother. The two are of similar land size, their common boundary running north-south, but...
The making of Flaxman Wines
Colin (Col) and wife Fiona Sheppard have reinvented themselves several times in the past 20 years, recounted in droll throw-away lines. Thus the budding Melbourne builder and sister, still living at home, decided they needed to do something about...
The making of The Islander Estate wines
How, when and why would a proud fifth generation member of one of Bordeaux's family wine dynasties, its roots dating back to the 17th century, and a Colorado-raised IBM executive who had created a wholesale travel business, Aussie Adventures, come...
It’s a vigneron’s lot
Talk to a farmer about the weather and it’s too wet, too dry, too hot, too cold. But if you were a grape grower (who’s a farmer) in Murrumbateman in the Canberra District a two-word description would be useless. On January 3 this year a tornado one...
Mount Mary’s way
All the wineries of Margaret River and Yarra Valley were established by families over a similar timeframe. The first 10 wineries ran from 1967 to 1975 in Margaret River, and 1962 to 1972 in the Yarra Valley. These dates come from the Halliday Wine...
Langhorne Creek: it’s a treasure
Langhorne Creek was for long a hidden jewel in the South Australian grape growing tapestry. Its cool climate is similar to that of Coonawarra; a grape growing history dating back 170-plus years; and three family-owned and run wineries whose wine...
The Birth of Margaret River Wines
The Australia Day elevation of Dr John Gladstones' recognition from Member of the Order of Australia (AM) to Officer (AO) was richly deserved. His 90-year-old body may show his age, but his quicksilver mind is as sharp as ever. The award recognises...
