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It’s Melbourne cup next week: The race that stops a nation! And people all over the country will be breaking out the bubbles and barbie wines as they host Cup Day parties. With this in mind we’re looking at three wines that might help you qualify your day as a winner even if the horses you back come last! The first is a classic red quaffer from Fox Creek. We also check out a really inexpensive sparkling from Yarra Burn, and a more expensive bottle of bubbles from Quartz Reef – an international raider on the cup!

This week’s recommendations are:

• Fox Creek Red Baron McLaren Vale Shiraz 2008 ($13-18)
• Yarra Burn Premium Cuvée NV ($13-$20)
• Quartz Reef Methode Traditionelle NV ($30-$35)

Download the video: (4 min 51 sec)
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Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

Instead of our normal look at three wines we love this week Danny is on his own and has something different to talk about. With every wine store in the country selling Sauvignon Blanc like hot cakes Danny asks “Why?” To make things interesting Danny opens a NZ Sauv Blanc and an Aussie Riesling and puts both through their paces. The result? Not a lot of love in the room for the “Cats wee” flavour of the bigger selling Savvy. Controversial? Sure! Eye opening? Hopefully!

Download the video: (9 min 06 sec)
Windows Media (29.6 Mb) | Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (53.8 Mb) | Mpeg4 (28.7 Mb)

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

This week we kick things off with a classic Aussie Shiraz from Mount Langi, a producer who seems more than capable of churning out great value quaffers and ripper top end wines too! We then look at the Heemskerk Coal River Riesling. A few weeks back we interviewed Anna Pooley at the Young Gun of Wine Festival tasting and thought it about time we looked at one of her wines too. It’s not the standard Aussie fare, but it’s a great drop that many of you will love. Our last wine of the week is a straight Malbec, something we haven’t done a lot of. In this case it’s from Harcourt Valley and Brad thinks it’s a great drop for now, or for laying down for a few years.

This week’s recommendations are:

• Mount Langi Cliff Edge Shiraz 2005 ($24-27)
• Heemskerk Coal River Riesling ($40-45)
• Harcourt Valley Limited Release Malbec 2008 ($18-$20)

Download the video: (4 min 29 sec)
Windows Media (17.4 Mb) | Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (30.8 Mb) | Mpeg4 (16.7 Mb)

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

This week we look a three wines that won’t be the easiest to find. The first is a Cabernet blend from Sorrenberg, a Beechworth winery who sell most of their wines via a mailing list. We follow this up with a Gamay from Roundstone, a winery that earlier this year was destroyed in the Victorian bushfires. To round things out we look at a Fiano, an Italian white grape variety, which is being made in very small batches by one of our favourite smaller wineries, Oliver’s Taranga.

If you’re around Melbourne this weekend, why not drop out to the Shed Fest in the Yarra Valley? Support the small local wineries after the tough start to 2009 that saw bushfires destroy so much of the area. Details on ShedFest are available on the ShedFest website.

This week’s recommendations are:

• Sorrenberg Cabernet 2005 ($38-40)
• Roundstone Gamay 2008 ($20-15)
• Oliver’s Taranga Fiano 2008 ($22-$24)

Download the video: (5 min 04 sec)
Windows Media (17.4 Mb) | Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (30.8 Mb) | Mpeg4 (16.7 Mb)

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

With daylight savings kicking off in most parts of Australia this weekend, we thought we’d look at three wines perfect for the lazy days ahead. Our first wine is a big, bold, McLaren Vale shiraz from Two Hands. It’s a perfect wine to put together with a big slab of red meat thrown onto your bbq this summer. We follow up with a red blend from Wirra Wirra, a winery doing great things at both the expensive and inexpensive ends of the market. Finally we look at a Riesling from Best’s Great Western, a great option for those who want to be able to open a riesling without their mates being scared off.

This week’s recommendations are:

• Two Hands Angels Share Shiraz 2008 ($25-28)
• Wirra Wirra Scrubby Rise Red 2008 ($12-15)
• Best’s Great Western Riesling 2009 ($20-$22)

Download the video: (5 min 00 sec)
Windows Media (16.3 Mb) | Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (30.6 Mb) | Mpeg4 (15.7 Mb)

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny