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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.

Brokenwood Oakey Creek Vineyard Semillon 2019

This wine is just starting to transition from the zesty vibrancy of youth into the complexity that Hunter Valley Semillon...

Brokenwood Semillon 2022

What a vibrant little beauty this is! Aromas of freshly squeezed lemon juice, peach blossom, and golden kiwi fruit –...
Jilyara T HeathRoad Cab Sav WMR Reflect

Jilyara Heath Road Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

Apparently Cabernet Sauvignon is staging a comeback in popularity – wines like this one are leading the charge. It’s fragrant...
Jilyara T HeathRoad Malbec WMR Reflect

Jilyara Heath Road Malbec 2021

Malbec is often a blending partner for Cabernet Sauvignon in Margaret River so it’s a delight to see it as...
Chardonnay

Watkins Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2021

There is so much mineral delicacy in the aromas that I suspect this wine might fool the odd blind-taster into...
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Watkins Ruscello Sangiovese 2021

This wine is part of the Watkins ‘Mad Cousins’ Series, a range all about experimentation and gosh it’s a fun...
Langhorne Creek Grenache

Watkins Grenache 2022

Watkin’s Sibling Series showcases varieties that thrive in Langhorne Creek – one of Australia’s most underrated quality wine regions. The...
ThreeElms Timbertops Gewurztraminer

Three Elms Timbertops Riesling 2021

There’s something so enticingly different about Frankland River Riesling when compared to the better known South Australian examples. This wine...
ThreeElms Timbertops Riesling

Three Elms Timbertops Gewürtztraminer 2022

Heady aromas of rose petals and pink musk sticks erupt into the air as you crack the screwtop. There’s lychees...
Parker First Growth Media Res

Parker First Growth 2019

From an exceptional vineyard planted on the famous Coonawarra Terra Rossa soil, ‘First Growth’ is only made in the finest...
Parker Block Media

Parker Estate 95 Block 2020

Mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with just a splash (9%) of Petit Verdot, this wine sings “Coonawarra” from the first sniff. The...
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...

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...
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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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