wineweek.com.au
pouring rapid tips

Sometimes money is a bit tight, sometimes it’s just not the sort of night you need to spend too much. Either way, there are great options of making sure you end up with a quality wine without spending too much dosh!

This week we check out the Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon, the Wirra Wirra Church Block and the Mount Langi Ghiran Billi Billi Shiraz. All under $20, all ripper wines!

This week’s recommendations are:

• Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon 2010 ($12-$16)
• Wirra Wirra Church Block 2009 ($18-19)
• Mount Langi Ghiran Billi Billi Shiraz 2008 ($14-18)

Download the video: (4 min 59 sec)
Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (31.9 Mb) | Mpeg4 (16.4 Mb)

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

To some the Hunter Valley is not the first place they think of when talking about great Australian wine. We’re not so parochial that we don’t recognise brilliant wine from Sydney’s closest wine hotspot, and this week check out two rippers from region.

The first is a new Shiraz from Andrew Thomas – the Motel Block, and the other is a bargain Semillon from Mount Pleasant which is too good not to drink. In between we catch up with an old Port style favourite from Rutherglen legends, Stanton & Killeen.

This week’s recommendations are:

• Andrew Thomas Motel Block Shiraz 2009 ($48-$50)
• Stanton & Killeen Vintage 2005 ($25-$28)
• Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon 2005 ($12-17)

Download the video: (4 min 50 sec)
Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (29.7 Mb) | Mpeg4 (15.9 Mb)

Have you seen our Best Dozen purchase offer? You can purchase 6 of our Best Dozen of 2010! Details here.!

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

Sometimes when you visit the bottle shop it feels like they must be handing out medals to wines just for turning up. This week we start by looking at the Margaret Semillon from Peter Lehmann, a wine that picked up a prize for best in show that you can trust!

We also check up on the latest vintages of the Penley Phoenix Cabernet Sauvignon and the Stonier Pinot Noir.

This week’s recommendations are:

• Peter Lehmann Margaret Barossa Semillon ($32-$35)
• Stonier Pinot Noir 2009 ($23-$28)
• Penley Phoenix Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 ($19-25)

Download the video: (4 min 39 sec)
Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (28.8 Mb) | Mpeg4 (15.4 Mb)

Have you seen our Best Dozen purchase offer? You can purchase 6 of our Best Dozen of 2010! Details here.!

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)
Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (68.6 Mb) | Mpeg4 (37 Mb)

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

Some people put a lot of emphasis on the colour of wine. Certainly the Wolf Blass name is linked with colour, and this week we have a look at one of their Grey Label wines that impressed us at a recent tasting.

We hope that Oprah’s visitors to the Tyrrell’s cellar door this week loved the great Hunter white Semillon as much as we do! And rounding out the week we look at a dry Rosé from Port Philip estate that is very light pink.

This week’s recommendations are:

• Wolf Blass Grey Label Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 ($27-$30)
• Tyrrell’s WInes Belford Semillon 2005 ($22-$25)
• Port Philip Estate Salasso Rosé ($18-20)

Download the video: (4 min 45 sec)
Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (27.8 Mb) | Mpeg4 (14.8 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

After a massive episode to celebrate our 200th last week, it’s time to get back to reality. So instead of wines costing up to a couple of thousand dollars, this week we will try and keep things a bit more approachable.

The three wines come from Yelland & Papps, Andrew Thomas Wines and Wirra Wirra and we’d be happy opening any one of them for a little celebration.

This week’s recommendations are:

• Yelland & Papps Delight Grenache Shiraz 2009 ($18-$20)
• Andrew Thomas Braemore Semillon 2010 ($25-$27)
• Wirra Wirra Scrubby Rise Shiraz Blend 2009 ($13-17)

Download the video: (4 min 42 sec)
Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (28.5 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

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

A while back we looked at an iPhone app that was perfect for casual wine drinkers. But what if, like us, you’re a bit more than casual about your wine cellar? We check out the new iPhone app Vinoteka, which has been designed to meet the needs of bigger cellars and those who want to track everything possible about their wine collection both on the iPhone and on a Mac.

We also look at the Elizabeth Semillon from Mount Pleasant, which Danny is glad is now under screw cap. Brad looks at a bargain Shiraz from Gramps that was picking up awards last year, but is still in the shops today. Who said a wine glut was all bad news!?

This week’s recommendations are:

• Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon 2006 ($10-$16)
• Gramps Shiraz 2006 ($15-$20)
• Vinoteka iPhone App ($6US-$8AU)

Download the video: (6 min 03 sec)
Windows Media (19.6 Mb) | Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (35.2 Mb) | Mpeg4 (19.0 Mb)

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

Three different vintages and three very different wines this week. Wines from the 07, 08 and 09 vintages.

The first is one of Australia’s gifts to the wine world: Hunter Valley Semillon. Andrew Thomas, “Thommo” to his mates, shows just how good the region can be with this grape. Brad follows up with a red blend from Margaret River producer Voyager Estate, the Girt by Sea. To round out the week Danny looks at a wine from Spinifex. Blended to make a super approachable wine for everyday drinking using Cinsault and Mataro to soften the boldness of Barossan Grenache. And the art of blending is definitely on show here.

If you’re in Sydney and want to score one of 5 double passes to the Taste of Sydney festival you can go into the draw one of two ways. Either send us an email at info@wineweek.com.au with the subject line “Taste of Sydney tickets” or post on Twitter using these all of these three phrases; i) “@WineWeek”, ii) “Taste of Sydney”, iii) “win” or “winner”. So your twitter post might look like “I want to win tix to the Taste of Sydney fest, pls pick me @WineWeek!”.

If you’re in Melboure then set Saturday March 13 aside and join us for our first real world wine tasting. Held in conjunction with the Seddon Wine Store it should be great fun and we’ll be showing off a bunch of great Rieslings and Pinot Noirs that we’ve featured on the show, plus a few that are favourites that we haven’t told you about yet!

This week’s recommendations are:

• Thomas Wines Braemore Semillon 2009 ($25-28)
• Voyager Estate Girt By Sea 2008 ($22-$24)
• Spinifex Papillon 2007 ($25-$28)

Download the video: (5 min 00 sec)
Windows Media (16.2 Mb) | Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (29.5 Mb) | Mpeg4 (15.7 Mb)

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny

Lost your shirt in the financial crisis? Tyrrell’s Lost Block Semillon might be just the answer. It’s a great semillon made by a top Hunter Valley producer but perhaps the best bit is just how inexpensive it is! And speaking of inexpensive, Xabregas have released a show reserve Shiraz from the same vintage as their Jimmy Watson short listed year. But at under $30 for a Great (Southern) Shiraz it’s ripper value. To round things out we check back in on a family favourite. d’Arenberg’s Laughing Magpie certainly hits the spot, and they say laughter is the best medicine!

This week’s recommendations are:

• Tyrrell’s Lost Block Semillon 2008 ($10-15)
• Xabregas Show Reserve Shiraz 2007 ($23-26)
• d’Arenberg Laughing Magpie 2007 ($24-$29)

Download the video: (4 min 34 sec)
Windows Media (14.2 Mb) | Quicktime/iPod/iPhone (26.0 Mb) | Mpeg4 (13.8 Mb)

Cheers… and happy wine buying!

Brad and Danny