James Halliday
The making of Duke’s Vineyard shiraz
Duke (Ian) Ranson had a long-held retirement dream of establishing a small vineyard in the heritage-listed Porongurup sub-region of the Great Southern. The dream, shared with artist wife Hilde, took shape in 1998 when they sold their clothing...
Munda Wines: wine made on country
Over the years, I (and I suspect my fellow winewriters) have received wines labelled with the names of famous sports stars; cricket, football (any of the three codes) and so forth. Chefs have also been in the game, and in the early '80s, racehorses...
The making of Singlefile Wines
The Snowden family has made throwing down the gauntlet to the tyranny of distance into an art form. Parents Phil and Viv Snowden built a successful mining consultancy business in South Africa; daughter Pam married Patrick Corbett, who was born in...
Spinifex wines go from strength to strength
No, there hasn't been a typographical glitch: I have given all three wines profiled here in print 97 points, and the fourth the same. I was looking forward to the tasting, but the idea of using the same score materialised only as I worked my way...
Top Bekkers McLaren Vale wine which stands out from the rest
The tasting notes for the three Bekkers McLaren Vale/Clarendon wines featured this week will, in a limited sense, speak for themselves. Which is as well, because the Bekkers story can't be told in a mere 330 words of my weekly column. It is a story...
The making of Tasmania’s Stoney Rise wines
Some are lucky enough to be born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Joe Holyman was born with pinot noir in his mouth, the fifth generation of a Tasmanian family with a distinguished history. Father Robin had planted vines in 1984, but sold the...
Winemaker Ken Helm’s exceptional riesling and cabernet
Ken Helm AM is a tribal warrior who first thrust his spear in the holy ground of the Canberra District 50 years ago. He chose to plant riesling and cabernet sauvignon which has proved to be wise, but for upwards of 20 years riesling suffered the...
Barossa Valley’s Alkina Wine Estate the work of wine angels
The Barossa Valley's Alkina Wine Estate and its 60ha of certified biodynamic vineyard is an exercise in crowding wine angels on a pinhead. It dates back to 2012 when Argentinean Alejandro Bulgheroni decided to add Australia to his long term vinous...
John Gladstones is the true father of Margaret River winemaking
Any account of the history of winemaking in Margaret River must acknowledge the true father of the region: Dr John Gladstones AM, a scientist of awesome intelligence. Much of his working life as an agronomist was devoted to lupins, a significant...
Stuart Hooper’s long term vision for Bannockburn Vineyards
The late Stuart Hooper's love of Burgundy lay behind his decision to establish Bannockburn in 1973/74. A successful business man and pastoralist, he already had substantial agricultural holdings in the Geelong region when he planted the first vines...