Avatar photo

Ken Gargett

Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
grand barossa cabernet

Château Tanunda Grand Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon 2022

Cabernet for this delicious and richly flavoured red is sourced from all around the Barossa. The wine spends a year...
grand barossa gsm

Château Tanunda Grand Barossa GSM 2023

A delicious and impressive GSM blend here – 56% Grenache, 26% Shiraz and 18% Mourvèdre. The wine spent a year...
chardonnay

Château Tanunda Grand Barossa Chardonnay 2023

A percentage of the grapes harvested here spent time fermenting in older French oak with the intention of increasing the...
riesling

Château Tanunda Grand Barossa Dry Riesling 2024

Riesling from a wonderful vintage from the Barossa sub-regions of Tanunda and Vine Vale, some of the vines used here...
learnigns

Limefinger Watervale The Learnings Riesling 2024

The Rieslings from Limefinger, at the hands of Clare master, Neil Pike, have quickly become cult must-haves. Deservedly so. The...
solace

Limefinger Polish Hill River Solace Riesling 2024

Many years ago, in one of my many less careful moments, I managed to stick my finger in an electric...
Leconfield Manor House MV Shiraz Bottle Mock CabMer (green) capsule

Leconfield Manor House McLaren Vale Shiraz 2022

An early look at Leconfield’s latest foray in McLaren Vale, this time with Shiraz, was exciting. An inky black/purple hue...
NV Bleasdale Reserve Shiraz Bottle Shot med res

Bleasdale Reserve Shiraz 2021

An absolute cracker. Deep blood red in colour, this is ripe and alluring. The nose gives up aromas of chocolate,...
Floodgate Shiraz Bottle Shot med res

Bleasdale Floodgate Shiraz 2022

If you want a wine which shows just how delicious and what good value Langhorne Creek Shiraz can be, look...
year old

Château Tanunda 100 Year Old Vines Shiraz 2021

Incredible ancient vines are in play for this gorgeous Shiraz. Centenarian bush vines, ungrafted, the grapes are fermented in small...
everest

Château Tanunda The Everest Shiraz 2021

The initial vintage of this wine from the 2005 vintage picked up ‘World’s Best Shiraz’, and every release since then...
greenock

Château Tanunda Terroirs of the Barossa Greenock Shiraz 2022

Also from the Terroirs series is this delicious offering from the Greenock sub-region, well known for its alluring richness. Maturation...
chateau grenache

Château Tanunda The Château Single Vineyard Grenache 2023

A single vineyard Barossa Grenache, the vineyard sitting next to Chateau Tanunda. A percentage of whole bunches were included in...
grand barossa shiraz

Château Tanunda Grand Barossa Shiraz 2022

Fermentation is by way of small batches, before basket pressing into a mix of new and older French and American...
ebenezer

Château Tanunda Terroirs of the Barossa Ebenezer Shiraz 2022

The team used small open fermenters and a basket press to ensure that the treatment of this wine was as...
CASKShirazBottle

Hewitson Cask 66 Shiraz 2022

The reference to ‘66’ in the name here is a nod to the address of the winery, 66 Seppeltsfield Road....
The Dead Arm Shiraz

D’Arenberg The Dead Arm Shiraz 2019

The current release of their flagship red in which small batches of grapes were crushed and placed in five tonne...
ShirazUngrafted

Hewitson Ungrafted Shiraz 2022

From old dry-grown vines, fermentation was over a three week period before maturation takes place in older French oak barriques...
The Chase Semillon

Gundog Estate The Chase Semillon 2024

From old vines in central Pokolbin, the grapes receive a gentle pressing with a limited amount of juice put to...
Hunter's Shiraz

Gundog Estate Hunter’s Shiraz 2023

From older vineyards in Pokolbin, the wine spent a year in French oak. The colour is a blood red/maroon, while...
cdcbfbadaccbee

Frederick BLK 777 Barossa Shiraz 2021

The fruit here hails from forty year old vines, while the wine spent a year and a half maturing in...
Hunter's Semillon

Gundog Estate Hunter’s Semillon 2024

While most wine lovers know how well a good Hunter Semillon can age, the team here have aimed for an...
Wild Semillon

Gundog Estate Wild Semillon 2024

This is an estate keen to expand the envelope and to see just what traditional Hunter Semillon can achieve. Here,...
Tapanappa Definitus PinotNoir

Tapanappa Definitus Pinot Noir 2018

The 2021 vintage of Definitus sold out so quickly that the team decided to release a little of their museum...

Stories

MartenAscenzo Penfolds PenfoldsMediaPreview D

Penfolds 2023 – ‘The Aussies’

There is no release more anticipated by winelovers in Australia than the annual Penfold’s Collection and of course, most especially...

Artisans of the Barossa (2021 Grenache Project)

One of the more interesting projects currently afloat in Aussie wine at the moment, especially appropriate given the skyrocketing interest...

Alkina – The Curious Box of Paradoxes

Alkina is a curious box of paradoxes. Seemingly unlimited resources but still tiny; a small local operation yet part of...

Cumulus and Quilty & Gransden

They say that Disneyland is the happiest place on earth. Perhaps, but I would suggest that the Australian wine industry...

Greenock Creek New Releases 2021

It was back in 1984 that the first grapes were picked for the inaugural vintage from Greenock Creek wines. Taken...

Duval on Grenache

The name, Duval, is and always will be inextricably linked with Grange. John Duval was chief winemaker at Penfold’s from...
winepilot