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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.
Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz

Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz 2023

The famous Filsell Shiraz from their Barossa Valley vineyard with vines planted over a century ago, is still cracking value...
Grant Burge Nebu NV

Grant Burge Nebu Cabernet Shiraz 2023

The classic Aussie red blend, Cabernet and Shiraz, from the Barossa Valley. The Shiraz is sourced from their famous Filsell...
Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay Bottle Shot

Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2022

This iconic Australian Chardonnay never allows standards to drop and this is yet another stellar effort from the great Chardonnay...
Aylesbury Estate Q Vermentino

Aylesbury Estate QO5 Vermentino 2024

Another fine local version of an Italian star, which is widely planted over there, but Sardinia seems its spiritual home....
Aylesbury Estate Q Arneis

Aylesbury Estate QO5 Arneis 2024

From the Ferguson Valley in Western Australia, this is a very fine local version of Arneis. Originally from Piedmont in...
Aylesbury Estate The Pater Series Chardonnay

Aylesbury Estate Pater Series Chardonnay 2024

From Ferguson Valley, this is one of just 5,640 bottles from the Pater series, and is an impressive Chardy by...
Driftwood T Artifacts Malbec NV

Driftwood Artifacts Malbec 2022

A fine Malbec here, very fine actually. We do not see a great number of solo varietal Malbecs, its role...
Driftwood T Artifacts Chardonnay

Driftwood Artifacts Chardonnay 2024

An excellent Margaret River Chardonnay, the wine spent time maturing in top-notch French oak. The colour of this fresh and...
Driftwood Artifacts Fume Blanc

Driftwood Artifacts Fumé Blanc 2024

The name, ‘Fumé Blanc’, was conjured by Robert Mondavi, the legendary Napa winemaker (or possibly someone on his marketing team),...
Driftwood Artifacts Sav Blanc Semillon

Driftwood Artifacts Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2024

From Margaret River, this was once known as a ‘classic dry white’ blend for those in the West. The category...
Cape Landing Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Cape Landing Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2023

A wonderful example of Margaret River Cabernet – desert island drinking, if ever there was. The fruit hails from a...
Cape Landing Blackwood Chardonnay

Cape Landing Blackwood Chardonnay 2024

Whole bunch pressing here, followed by nine months maturation in French oak barriques, 43% of them new. The colour here...
Cape Landing Blackwood Syrah

Cape Landing Blackwood Syrah 2023

Shiraz from Margaret River, this saw equal amounts of destemmed and whole bunches in the fermentation, followed by ten months...
Cape Landing Blackwood Heritage Cabernet Sauvignon

Cape Landing Blackwood Cabernet Sauvignon 2023

Margaret River Cabernet has established itself as one of the great wine styles of this country – world domination is...
Cape Landing Blackwood Silvereye Sauv Blanc

Cape Landing Blackwood Sauvignon Blanc 2024

From a vineyard in the Forest Grove sub-region of Margaret River, the wine spent seven months on lees in French...
Cape Mentelle Chardonnay NV

Cape Mentelle Chardonnay 2023

The fruit for this fine Margaret River Chardy comes from two very different vineyards south of the Margaret River township,...
Cape Mentelle Heritage Chardonnay NV

Cape Mentelle Heritage Chardonnay 2024

The team’s prestige Chardonnay, this is always one of the gems from Margaret River. Two vineyards provide the fruit and...
Cape Mentelle Heritage Chardonnay NV

Cape Mentelle Heritage Chardonnay 2023

The vineyards supplying the fruit for this stunning Margaret River Chardonnay are the Crossroads and Chapman Brook vineyards, located in...
Cape Mentelle Heritage Shiraz

Cape Mentelle Heritage Shiraz 2022

It is perfectly permissible to feel just a little bit sorry for Margaret River Shiraz, always in the shadows of...
Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon NV

Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon 2022

The Cabernet Sauvignon fruit sourced from the various parcels across Cape Mentelle’s Margaret River vineyards is destemmed and lightly crushed,...
Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon NV

Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon 2023

Early days for this very fine Marg River Cab and there is improvement ahead, but for those lacking the patience,...
Austin's Riesling

Austins Riesling 2024

Riesling from Geelong is not a common sight but a welcome one, nonetheless. Naturally, a slightly different style to the...
Austin's Pinot Noir

Austins Moorabool Valley Geelong Pinot Noir 2024

The team’s vineyard at Moorabool Valley in the Geelong region has 90 acres of Pinot Noir (out of a total...
Austin's Shiraz

Austins Moorabool Valley Geelong Shiraz 2023

We get to the serious stuff here. From the Moorabool Valley in the Geelong region, there is a small contribution...

Stories

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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...
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