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Nicole Bilson

Nicole loves wine. So much so that she gave up a successful career in Pharmacy, perfected her spitting technique, and moved from sunny Queensland to the wine-drenched laneways of Melbourne. Stints in hospitality, wineries, retail, sales and marketing filled the next few years while Nicole built her knowledge and searched for the right path. She completed the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) Diploma in 2016 and became a certified WSET Educator the following year. She now juggles a number of roles including teaching people about wine, curating wines lists for restaurants and bars, judging in Australian wine shows and, of course, writing. In 2016 she won the Negociants Working With Wine writing award and has since contributed to Gourmet Traveller WINE, Halliday Wine Companion Magazine and Nourish Magazine.
Parker Estate Kidman Block Media

Parker Estate Kidman Block Shiraz 2021

Extraordinary colour! A deep, inky, magenta purple. It smells like fat wedges of blueberry pie: sweet vanilla-scented pastry and seductively...
Richard Hamilton Centurion Old Vine Shiraz

Richard Hamilton Centurion Old Vine Shiraz 2020

This was everything I expect from premium McLaren Vale Shiraz – dark and powerful with round, ripe tannins and intense...
VineDriedCab

Oliver’s Taranga Vine Dried Cabernet 2021

This sure does pack a punch. Cabernet Sauvignon is hand-picked, dried on racks and then added to freshly picked Cabernet...
Corrinas

Oliver’s Taranga Corrina’s Shiraz Cabernet 2021

Cabernet shiraz blends are iconically Australian and I think perhaps, it’s time to see them as a trend worthy of...
Shiraz

Oliver’s Taranga Shiraz 2021

South Australian Shiraz has a reputation for being big and bold – blockbuster wines. There’s definitely a place for that...
Brionis

Oliver’s Taranga Brioni’s Blend 2022

What a quirky blend this is. You might be more familiar with Mataro being called Mourvèdre, a structured, earthy variety...
Tempranillo

Oliver’s Taranga Tempranillo 2022

Is it a bad thing when a wine smells like your childhood? Hear me out – there’s aromas of strawberries...
Grenache

Oliver’s Taranga Small Batch Grenache 2022

McLaren Vale Grenache continues to shine and this is a textbook example of everything there is to love about it....
Mencia

Oliver’s Taranga Mencia 2022

Mencìa is a variety that comes from north west Spain and the Wright family of Oliver’s Tauranga are proving it...

Querceto Di Castellina Chianti Classico L’Aura  D.O.C.G 2020

This is everything you want Chianti to be – bright cherries, ripe yellow plums, savoury herbs and a delicate earthy...

Tenuta Corte Giacobbe Pinot Grigio 2021

This wine absolutely leaps from the glass with the enthusiasm of a Labrador puppy. There’s lemon, lime, and juicy white...

Vinea Marson Shiraz Viognier 2017

Inky and dense with blackberries, cassis, brooding violets and dark, bittersweet flourless chocolate cake. There’s an earthy, slatey minerality. Just...

Oliver’s Taranga RW Grenache 2021

Grenache has shown itself to be a champion variety of McLaren Vale and this beauty is a prime example. It...

Oliver’s Taranga Chica Mencía Rosé 2022

Mencía is a Spanish variety hailing from the northwest that shows juicy fruit with a lovely savoury, spicy, herbal undertone....

Oliver’s Taranga Fiano 2022

This is what summer smells like: fleshy fresh chunks of honeydew and rockmelon, juicy mandarin and pink grapefruit segments, lemon...

Oliver’s Taranga Vermentino 2022

Vermentino is emerging as one of the white Italian varieties perfectly suited to the tastes of Australian wine lovers –...

Vinea Marson Nebbiolo 2016

Glistening garnet highlights in the glass hint at the age but there’s still so much freshness – red plums, macerated...

Vinea Marson Sangiovese 2017

At first swirl, I was taken to an elegant drawing room and the feeling and aromas of sinking into a...

Quilty & Gransden Chardonnay 2019

Purity and elegance on the nose with lemon zest and a flinty minerality. There is some subtle oak contributing just...

Quilty & Gransden Merlot 2018

This wine is proof that merlot can be nuanced and interesting. There are bright red plums, blackberries and blueberries –...

Quilty & Gransden Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

What a charmer! Star anise and dense blackberry bushes – both the lush green foliage and the plump juicy berries....

Quilty & Gransden Shiraz 2018

Dense dark blackberry coulis and licorice erupt from the glass. There’s dark, cocoa-rich Black Forest cake and freshly picked Provençal...

Quilty & Gransden Sauvignon Blanc 2020

This is a beautifully restrained example of Sauvignon Blanc, showing more in common with Sancerre than Marlborough. There’s plenty of...
NV YS RES SHZV

Yering Station Reserve Shiraz Viognier 2020

What a beauty! Black cherries, pressed violets, strawberries and cream – the aromas erupt from the glass as you pour....

Stories

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One to One by Oxford Landing

I first encountered Oxford Landing in 2015. It was the affordably priced wine on the huge portfolio I was navigating...
OL Riverlife copy

Riverlife by Oxford Landing

Oxford Landing has a long reputation for good, affordable wines, well loved by the glass at the local pub. With...

Chalmers: Future-Proofing Wine

Like it or not, the traditional grape varieties that built Australia’s reputation as a great place to make wine are...

New Vine to Wine range from Mitchelton

There’s romance in a cellar door surrounded by vines and wines that tell the story of their place as Mitchelton...

What makes a wine great – it’s not what you’d think…

It was a bustling Saturday night in one of Melbourne’s hipster suburbs in a raved-about venue. Thick coats, moments before...

Eggstravagant Wines

I was standing in a queue at the checkout when a woman winked at me and said “There’s going to...
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