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After a couple of weeks where we featured our interview with Maynard from Tool/Caduceus Cellars we’re back behind the desk talking about wines you won’t find as hard to get in Australia!

The first a brilliant Shiraz from Bests Wines, a winery that has suffered like so many in the floods that have been so heartbreaking across the country. Brad looks at a Pinot Noir that he picked up on recent trip down to Tasmania and Danny talks about the Sorrenberg Chardonnay.

This week’s recommendations are:

• Bests Bin 0 Shiraz 2008 ($62-$65)
• Freycinet Louis Pinot Noir 2009 ($25-$28)
• Sorrenberg Chardonnay 2008 ($45-50)

Download the video: (6 min 10 sec)
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Make sure you get your ticket in The Australian Wine Trade Flood Relief Raffle!

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

Update: Just announced – our friends at Boccaccio Cellars are offering 6 of our Best Dozen in a special pack at just $130 plus delivery!

It’s that time of year again! Yes, that time when we announce the 12 wines that impressed us the most over the last year…. and then give them away to a of lucky fan of the show!

If you’re an email subscriber you get one entry into the draw to win the complete set of our Best Dozen automatically. If you’re a Twitter follower you’ll get another entry into the competition. And if you’re a fan on Facebook then you’ve got another chance to win! Retweeting on twitter, or posting on your facebook wall with a link to the competition will get you another entry too! There are heaps of ways to give yourself the best possible shot at taking home one of the Best Dozen of 2010 packs!

The Best Dozen of 2010 are:

• De Bortoli Rococo Blanc de Blancs NV
• St. Hallett Eden Valley Riesling 2010
• Toolangi Chardonnay 2008
• Andrew Thomas Wines Braemore Semillon 2010
• Scion Vineyard Durif 2008
• Yabby Lake Pinot Noir 2008
• The Story Grampians Shiraz 2008
• Ben Glaetzer Wallace 2008
• Teusner Riebke Shiraz 2009
• Yalumba The Cigar 2008
• Penfolds St. Henri 2006
• Wolf Blass Platinum Shiraz 2007

Download the video: (11 min 11 sec)
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Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

We like big calls here on Wine Week, and there’s no bigger call than to name a wine as the best single vineyard white wine in the world. That’s exactly the accolade that the Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon picked up this week in London at the International Wine and Spirits Competition. After a call like that, we had to check it out.

While no one has ever called the Mamre Brook Shiraz the best wine in the world, we’ve never been unhappy drinking it, and think the new label design is pretty good too.

To round out the week, and our last episode before number 200, we check in with a Chardonnay from Yabby Lake. Tom Carson and the folks from Yabby Lake are taking part in the Wine Rules touch footy competition this weekend in Elwood, so why not drop past and try his wine if you haven’t already had the chance to.

This week’s recommendations are:

• Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon 2005 ($40-$45)
• Saltram Mamre Brook Shiraz 2008 ($25-$35)
• Yabby Lake Chardonnay 2007 ($32-35)

Download the video: (6 min 12 sec)
Windows Media (20.6 Mb) | Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (37.9 Mb) | Mpeg4 (19.9 Mb)

We are also super excited to announce the brand new Wine Week Radio podcast!

You can subscribe to the Wine Week Radio podcast via iTunes and every week we’ll have a new episode where we look at what’s happening in the wine industry.

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

What’s in a name? When it comes to these wines, quite a lot! The Torzi Matthews Schist Rock Shiraz might not be the most simple name to pronounce, but it definitely ticks all the boxes in terms of quality and price for us.

At Kooyong Estate and Crittenden Estate on the Mornington Peninsula they each offer various wines from different ranges. We check out the Estate Chardonnay from Kooyong and the Los Hermanos Tempranillo from Crittenden to see how they stack up.

This week’s recommendations are:

• Torzi Matthews Schist Rock Shiraz 2009 ($17-19)
• Kooyong Estate Estate Chardonnay 20077 ($30-$32)
• Crittenden Estate Los Hermanos Tempranillo 2008 ($24-27)

Download the video: (4 min 42 sec)
Windows Media (15.2 Mb) | Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (27.4 Mb) | Mpeg4 (14.7 Mb)

We are also super excited to announce the brand new Wine Week Radio podcast!

You can subscribe to the Wine Week Radio podcast via iTunes and every week we’ll have a new episode where we look at what’s happening in the wine industry.

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Nor should you judge a wine by your first glance. This week we look at the Cape Mentelle Chardonnay. This wine has a recently redesigned label it’s been attracting a lot of negative comments, but we want to talk about the wine behind the label.

We also look at the Scarlett Runner Shiraz from Spring Seed Wine. With its label inspired by early 1900s seed packets it has a style all of its own.

And to round out the week we look at the Mac Forbes Yarra Valley Pinot Noir. It’s a wine that frightens some when they first pour it, being on the very light side for colour, but how does it taste?

This week’s recommendations are:

• Cape Mentelle Chardonnay 2009 ($38-42)
• Spring Seed Wine Co. Scarlett Runner Shiraz 2009 ($18-20)
• Mac Forbes Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2008 ($25-$28)

Download the video: (4 min 57 sec)
Windows Media (16.0 Mb) | Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (28.9 Mb) | Mpeg4 (15.5 Mb)

We are also super excited to announce the brand new Wine Week Radio podcast!

You can subscribe to the Wine Week Radio podcast via iTunes and every week we’ll have a new episode where we look at what’s happening in the wine industry.

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

Back behind the desk this week, Danny kicks off with the Jack Mattinson’s Deluxe Dry Red. It’s a great Shiraz-Cabernet blend from one of Australia’s finest wine writers, who shows he’s not just all talk and no action.

Brad follows up last week’s discussion on Wine Week Radio about Chardonnay being back in fashion with a look at Tom Carson’s Yabby Lake Chardonnay.

We round out the week looking at a single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Wynns Coonawarra Estate. It’s yet another gem from Wynns underlining why so many people hold winemaker Sue Hodder in such high regard.

This week’s recommendations are:

• Mountain X Wine Co. Jack Mattinson’s 2009 ($15)
• Yabby Lake Chardonnay 2008 ($40-$45)
• Wynns Coonawarra Estate Glengyle Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 ($40-$43)

Download the video: (5 min 33 sec)
Windows Media (17.4 Mb) | Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (31.2 Mb) | Mpeg4 (16.9 Mb)

We are also super excited to announce the brand new Wine Week Radio podcast!

You can subscribe to the Wine Week Radio podcast via iTunes and every week we’ll have a new episode where we look at what’s happening in the wine industry.

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

This week we look at three wines from the 2008 vintage that are sure to keep you, and your mates, happy. The first is the classy Chalambar Shiraz from Seppelt. This is a wine you’ll see in shops, and on a lot of restaurant wine lists where it’s often one of the best value propositions.

The 2007 vintage was brilliant for Margaret River, but what about 2008? We check out the Capel Vale Cabernet Sauvignon from the more recent vintage and can happily say that the follow-up year is looking like a truly worthy sequel!

To round out the week we grab the Ten Minutes by Tractor Chardonnay from 2008. While the Mornington Peninsula is probably best known these days for their Pinot Noir, there’s no doubting that many of the producers from the region have been turning out beautiful whites from this classic grape.

This week’s recommendations are:

• Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz 2008 ($15-$22)
• Capel Vale Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 ($25-$27)
• Ten Minutes by Tractor 10X Chardonnay 2008 ($26-$29)

Download the video: (4 min 29 sec)
Windows Media (14.6 Mb) | Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (25.0 Mb) | Mpeg4 (14.1 Mb)

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

Each year the first week in May sees one of the most anticipated events in Australian wine: the release of Penfolds Icon and Luxury wines. Brad looks at one of the very best wines from this year’s release in the St. Henri Shiraz.

Danny looks at a couple of wines for those of us with a little less spending money however. His first wine is a Chardonnay from Shadowfax drawn from multiple cool climate sites throughout Victoria. The other is a bargain priced Shiraz Viognier blend from Punt Road’s second label, Airlie Bank.

This week’s recommendations are:

• Shadowfax Chardonnay 2008 ($27-$30)
• Penfolds St. Henri Shiraz 2006 ($75-$90)
• Punt Road Airlie Bank Shiraz Viognier 2008 ($15-$18)

Download the video: (5 min 12 sec)
Windows Media (16.8 Mb) | Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (32.0 Mb) | Mpeg4 (16.3 Mb)

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

Generally when we’ve talked about wines from the Mornington Peninsula we’ve looked at Pinot Noir. But in doing so we’ve missed on the other great variety from the region: Chardonnay. So we start this week with a look at the classic white grape offering from Red Hill Estate. We also check out a McLaren Vale Shiraz from Shingleback’s second label, Red Knot. And ahead of Danny shooting off to the Coonawarra this weekend he looks at a bargain red blend from Balnaves called, aptly, The Blend.

This week’s recommendations are:

• Red Hill Estate Chardonnay 2007 ($15-$19)
• Red Knot Shiraz 2008 ($9-$15)
• Balnaves The Blend 2007 ($17-$19)

Download the video: (3 min 59 sec)
Windows Media (12.8 Mb) | Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (23.4 Mb) | Mpeg4 (12.4 Mb)

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

When a winery can charge, $60 to $100 for their best know wines you known they’re doing something right. But not all of us can afford three figures for a bottle of wine everyday. So many of the most respected wineries have wines commonly referred to as ‘second’ wines. But don’t let the fact that these aren’t their most expensive offerings suggest that they aren’t up to scratch.

The first wine we look at is the ‘second’ Chardonnay from Leeuwin Estate, maker of arguably Australia’s best from the white grape. Next up is a Pinot Noir from Kooyong that comes in at half the price of their most renowned Pinot. The last wine we recommend is the ‘second’ from Moss Wood, one of the the greatest Cabernet producers from the Margaret River region in WA.

We also recommend you visit http://boozemonkey.com.au/ and http://www.empireauctions.com.au/ to check out the Wine For Haiti auction, raising much needed funds and giving you great wine in return.

This week’s recommendations are:

• Leeuwin Estate Prelude Chardonnay 2008 ($30-35)
• Kooyong Massale Pinot Noir 2008 ($28-$30)
• Moss Wood Amy’s Cabernet 2008 ($30-$35)

Download the video: (4 min 44 sec)
Windows Media (15.3 Mb) | Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (28.4 Mb) | Mpeg4 (14.9 Mb)

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny