Six of the best: Calver’s top tipples for 2024
"With the necessary amount of respect to avoid impudence, I now offer my recommendations for holiday season drinking. Don’t beat me up that they are all local wines," writes wine writer RICHARD CALVER.
Wine
"The anti-Christmas feelings of avarice and anger were elevated when the journalist posed the rhetorical question: ‘Do I dare sully these exquisite wines with food?’" bemoans wine columnist RICHARD CALVER.
Wine writer RICHARD CALVER enjoys the company of a fellow traveller and critic, but in a book.
Wine writer RICHARD CALVER, pining for a taste of the local winning wine of the Jimmy Watson Trophy, discovers the cupboard is bare; it's completely and utterly out of stock.
Wine
Waxing lyrical about the wonders of bubbly
"Recently I tasted three English sparkling wines that seem to be getting better and better. All were crisp and acidic, and all seemed an equal to some of the best Australian and French wines," writes wine columnist RICHARD CALVER.
Wine
Contrasts among the riesling challengers
Wine writer RICHARD CALVER highlights the differences when it comes to handing out trophies for rieslings.
Wine
Four Winds bring home the Jimmy Watson trophy
Four Winds Vineyard, at Murrumbateman, has won five awards in the 2024 Melbourne Royal Awards – including the show's top prize, the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy.
"The bouquet of wines is like a warm up to an active sporting event, the preliminary show can get you excited," writes wine columnist RICHARD CALVER.
Wine writer RICHARD CALVER takes a longer look at a "nouveau" wine from Tumbarumba with lots of slurpability!
"One serving of sweet dessert wine is about 23 per cent sugar. So, if you are watching your sugar intake, it’s also important that partaking a sweet wine is infrequent." Wine writer RICHARD CALVER hits the stickies (but not very often).
"The perfect accompaniment to the White Horse Bay vista at the end of this glorious day was a chilled glass of white wine," writes wine columnist RICHARD CALVER.
Wine columnist RICHARD CALVER gives a nod to a century old port and savours a joven-style new wine.
Wine columnist RICHARD CALVER ignores history's indifference for Father's Day and cooks dinner for his kids, matching it with three wines.
"My favourite of the Warrabilla wines is its durif. The next course, sirloin with leek and black garlic, was served with a 2022 Reserve Durif and a 2021 Reserve Durif." Wine writer RICHARD CALVER finds himself at an expensive wine lunch.
"Due to their cool climate, high-elevated wine-growing regions represent favourite cultivation sites under current and future global warming," reports wine columnist RICHARD CALVER.
"Despite the fact that the standard bottle of Bin 180 sells for $1180 (such synchronicity!), the three-litre bottles were more than 15 times as expensive, with people being prepared to pay for the unique," says wine writer RICHARD CALVER.
Wine writer RICHARD CALVER shares memories of the 2010 vintage, an outstanding year for Australian wine and Julia Gillard.
"The 2024 winegrape crush showed a nine per cent increase on 2023. But that was not a reason to pop a cork as the 2024 crush of 1.43 million tonnes was well below the 10-year average of 1.73 million tonnes," reports RICHARD CALVER.
"In winter, Kopi Tiam's Malaysian and Chinese-inspired dishes make it the perfect place to warm the tummy with spicy dishes, especially one of my all-time faves, the signature beef rendang." Dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON'S been to Manuka.
