A Free Wine Encyclopedia!McWilliam’s has been a maker of fine wines since 1877, when Samuel McWilliam first planted his vines at Corowa in New South Wales, Australia. It was his son, John James, who subsequently founded McWilliam’s Hanwood vineyard and winery at Griffith (from which this month’s selection comes), paving the way for the dynasty that was to… read more »
The Mitchelton Winery is located in the Goulburn Valley region of Central Victoria. This places it less than an hour and a half away, if you get the bug to drive to this Australian wine country from Melbourne. In the same way that a hospitable winemaking establishment in Napa Valley would appeal to someone in… read more »
Hardys is Australia’s second largest wine producer. The company dates back to 1953, when Thomas Hardy, just 23 years old, founded Bankside Cellars, three miles from Adelaide in the then “Colony of South Australia”. Exhibiting a pioneering spirit, an excellent head for business and a natural flair for wine making, the energetic young man from… read more »
About 150 years ago, Dr. Christopher Penfold left England with his wife Mary to settle in South Australia. They built a whitewashed stone cottage in Magill, four miles from Adelaide, and named it after Mary’s home in England, “The Grange”. The doctor had brought with him some wax-sealed grape-vine cuttings. He planted these over the… read more »
Penfolds was established in South Australia by Dr. Christopher Penfold in 1844. He had emigrated from England bringing with him his wife Mary and some wax-sealed vine cuttings. Four miles from Adelaide in Magill they built a white-washed stone cottage, naming it The Grange after Mary’s home in England. The doctor used his wines, grown… read more »
Black Marlin? I would prefer just calling it Semillon! This month’s imported white wine comes from the celebrated Hunter River Valley in Northern Australia. Gaining a reputation of late of producing wines of distinction, the Hunter River Valley has a history dating back to :1824 when a young Scot by the name of James Busby… read more »
Terms like Koonunga Hill, Coonawarra and Pokolbin most-likely don’t roll off the tongues of wine aficionados like Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino, but someday they will. Our import selection, if you haven’t already guessed, comes from “down under”. . . Australia. With all the hoopla over the Australian tourist ads here it was time to find… read more »
Editorial Forenote: If you number among the misfortunate few – as I do – who tasted some of the unadulterated rubbish that was washing ashore from Down Under ’round the early 1970’s, you well understand my wholly pleasurable reaction to reviewing this wine and the many other fine Australian selections finding their way into the… read more »