Category: Wine Review

Wine ReviewWine Tasting

Tawny Galafrey Wines Wine Review. Wine Tasting Commentary Reviews #84

Tawny Galafrey Wines wine review. Wine Tasting Commentary Reviews #84 If you’re a fan of Doctor Who in Australia, it’s Doctor Who’s birthday month(!) (November 2017) and what better way to celebrate the 54th birthday of the series than with a glass of delicious Galafrey Wines Tawny Check out their website at: http://www.GalafreyWines.com.au I recorded these awhile ago with the intention to post in 2017 and blog in 2018 but, I got a bit caught up. Sorry about the delay!

Wine ReviewWine Tasting

Cabernet Franc Vintage 2013 Galafrey Wines Wine Review. Wine Tasting Commentary Reviews #83

Cabernet Franc Vintage 2013 Galafrey Wines wine review. Wine Tasting Commentary Reviews #83 If you’re a fan of Doctor Who in Australia, it’s Doctor Who’s birthday month(!) (well, in November!) and what better way to celebrate the 54th birthday of the series (2017) than with a glass of delicious Galafrey Wines Cabernet Franc. Check out their website at: http://www.GalafreyWines.com.au If you’re a Doctor Who Fan, check out http://www.SylvesterMcCoy.com , one of the oldest websites on the net. I recorded these Galafrey Wines reviews awhile ago. If you’ve already missed these vintages, I’m sure Galafrey will have new vintages out for…

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Muller Thurgau Galafrey Wines Vintage 2015 wine review. Wine Tasting Commentary Reviews #81

If you’re a fan of Doctor Who in Australia, it’s Doctor Who’s birthday month(!) and what better way to celebrate the 54th birthday of the series than with a glass of delicious Galafrey Wines Muller Thurgau Check out their website at: http://www.GalafreyWines.com.au If you’re a Doctor Who Fan, check out http://www.SylvesterMcCoy.com , one of the oldest websites on the net. Check out our ebook: http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Sydney-Bars-Walking-Guide-ebook/dp/B00PEV8CLE/ I recorded these Galafrey Wines reviews awhile ago and have been saving them for November. So, hopefully they’re not too late. If you’ve already missed these vintages, I’m sure Galafrey will have new vintages out…

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Galafrey Wines Dry Grown Shiraz Vintage 2009 Video Wine Tasting Commentary Review #80

Galafrey Wines Dry Grown Shiraz Vintage 2009 Video Wine Tasting Commentary Review #80 Have you heard of a TV series called Doctor Who? In homage to this show, Ian Tyrer set up Galafrey Wines in the 70s. Galafrey (similar sounding to the home planet of the main character of the TV series Gallifrey) even had an entrance in the 90s painted TARDIS blue. Unfortunately, Ian passed on in 2003, but his legacy lives on, maintained by his family in Mount Barker, Western Australia. You can find out more at their website: Galafrey Wines I first heard about the winery in…

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Fairview Western Cape Town Wine Cheese and Goats South Africa

Fairview Western Cape Town Wine Cheese and Goats South Africa’s Western Cape is home to the country’s best winelands and many famous wine farms dating back to colonial times, when the Dutch and French settlers planted the first vineyards. One of these historic wine farms is Fairview – founded back in 1693 – which today continues to produce some truly outstanding wines and cheeses in the Paarl area of the Western Cape. A visit to Fairview is an absolute must if you’re on vacation in Cape Town! Part of the novelty and charm are the resident goats that live in…

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The Laira McLaren Vale Shiraz Vintage 2013 Wine Tasting Commentary Review #79

McLaren Vale Shiraz McLaren Vale Shiraz is my favourite red wine from Australia. McLaren Vale is the area that the shiraz is grown, so it is up to the producers to then bring out the best flavour. Does it mean that McLaren Vale Shiraz is best because of the vineyards, the producers or the weather? The best combination of all three, I would guess. Of the shiraz I have tasted from around Australia, from Heathcote to Margaret River, Barossa to Hunter Valley, I keep coming back to the thicker, juicier, higher alcohol content of shiraz from McLaren Vale. Of course, each…

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Pinotage South African Wine History and Review. You’ll never guess how it was discovered.

Pinotage and South Africa South Africa is world-famous for its excellent wines, historic vineyards, and elegant wine-tasting experiences. The making and enjoyment of fantastic wine is an integral part of South African culture, and locals are eager to share their adored wines with tourists visiting Cape Town and surrounds, with a passion for introducing pinotage. Most South African wine is made from foreign grape varietals (e.g., Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, etc) that are grown locally, but the country does have one proudly South African grape varietal. Through experimentation by horticulturists and a dash of sheer luck, the red wine-grape varietal…

Wine Review

A review of Best’s Great Western Bin No. 1 2014 Shiraz

Best’s Great Western Bin No. 1 2014 Shiraz Awhile ago I wrote a wine review which was to become my first fully paid article on wine. I have just discovered it isn’t linked from my Travel Wine Food site! So, here it is: Best’s Great Western Bin No. 1 2014 Shiraz I go into a bit of history about Shiraz in it, too. Let me know what you think! Cheers!

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Wine Society Mistura Barossa Valley Touriga Amarela Cao Varietal Blend Portuguese Style Vintage 2014 Old Plains Wine Tasting Review

The Wine Society in Ultimo, Sydney A members-only co-operative, The Wine Society prides itself in offering wines that have passed through their tasting panel or have been awarded trophies. I worked there for just over a year in the membership department as well as the inbound sales department and enjoyed my time there. I especially enjoyed the weekly tastings and access to some amazing drops. I remember the fun times but, at the end of the day, it was a job and I wanted to get back to enjoying wine for myself rather than having to taste everything that comes…

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Australia Trade Tasting Wine Event Sydney Review AuTT

Australia Trade Tasting The Australia Trade Tasting Wine Event was an informative session in Sydney for people in the industry Recently, thanks to my involvement with TravelWineFood.com and our Wine Education Services, as well as our plan to open a wine bar, we were eligible to attend the Australia Trade Tasting event in Sydney. This was an amazing event and well worth the admission. Only being able to spare a couple of hours, we had to be a bit choosy as to which wine stalls to visit, and then which wines to try, so some minutes were spent reading the brochure, checking…

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Sydney Italian Wine and Food Festival Review and Video

The Sydney Italian Wine and Food Festival I just had the pleasure of attending the Sydney Italian Wine and Food Festival inside Sydney’s Town Hall. I was quite impressed to see such a well-organised event with, according to Facebook, over 11,000 attendees across the weekend. I very much enjoyed being able to taste quite a lot of wine from many parts of Italy. It was amazing to try so many Italian wines. It was even more incredible to experience the taste of so many grape varieties that are hard to find in Sydney. We tried Acitana, Albaranzeuli Nero, Barbera del Sannio,…

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Hunter Valley Winery Tour Video Australia

I try and make it to the Hunter Valley every couple of years, to check out the new types of wines available and to visit any new wineries. I usually choose a tour so that I can enjoy the tasting experience and not worry about how to get back to Sydney. Here is a short video of one of my trips. In it you’ll see 5 areas of the Hunter Valley, including wineries Savannah Estate, Blueberry Hill, Tempus Two, Hermitage Cellars and James Estate, plus edits of the journey to and from. It’s very short as I’ve cut my own commentary…

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Iwanohara Wine Niigata Prefecture Japan. Japanese Muscat A Dry Red Review Video.

Iwanohara Wine Niigata Prefecture Japan   Iwanohara Wine is a delicious and slightly sweet wine from Niigata Prefecture Japan. This review is about enjoying the Japanese Muscat A Dry Red Wine next to Niigata City River. My tasting commentary review is below. I had the pleasure of being able to drink a glass of wine on the street near the river in Niigata City. Something that’s just not legal in Sydney City and surrounding suburbs. The wine was a Japanese red from the Niigata Prefecture Iwanohara region and tasted of fresh fruit, strawberrys, bitter cherries and rasberry. The ideal wine…

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A Distilled Wine Known as Grappa at Vanto in the QVB in Sydney.

In Sydney I regularly explore the bars and restaurants, looking to discover something new. In menus I look for different combinations of food that are unique or interesting, as well as drinks I’d never heard of. Sometimes I’ll be at a restaurant where I’ve already tried everything, but I’ll try something again that might be worthy of a review. This review falls into the former category as, and I was quite surprised to realise, I’ve never really tried grappa. Grappa is a drink made from the remains of the wine making process (seeds, pulp, skin and stems known collectively as…

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Chateau Mercian Yamanashi Bailey A Muscat Unfiltered Red Wine Commentary Review Tasting Video

At the ninja restaurant cafe in Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan I had the opportunity to sample the Chateau Mercian Yamanashi Bailey A Muscat Unfiltered Red Wine and give a wine tasting commentary review of it to camera. The vintage of the wine was 2006. On the video I didn’t know the grape variety but found out later it was Muscat (which, as there are many varieties of Muscat, means I still don’t really know!) In Australia the more popular red varietals are big, bold and juicy with peppery, coffee or chocolate notes, whereas the reds regularly served and prized in Japan are sweet,…

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Irish Bar Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Wine and Haggis!

After meeting at Hachiko we headed to a surprise place for dinner that one of the friends of our friend had recommended. We had been looking forward to perhaps a sushi place or a rare and secret izakaya, and certainly somewhere that no foreigner would ever know about or could ever find in Shibuya. However, we were surprised to find that we were taken to Abbot’s Choice – an Irish Bar, right in the centre of Shibuya and easily seen by everyone. So, definitely not what we were expecting, but apparently THE most popular place for Shibuya residents. Who’d have thought? Ironically, wherever…