Vaughn Again: Sowing & regrowing love at Sinapius
Vaughn Dell’s heart stopped on a northern Tasmanian vineyard in May 2020. We all knew isolation then, or thought we did. Feelings felt remote, but tears were never far away, and stasis was the status quo. The layers of weirdness might have muffled the seismic shock for Vaughn’s wife, Linda Morice; certainly, what happened next was a blur.
For 15 years, they had been growing a future here, everything constantly beginning or becoming—the vines, the wines, their daughters; Vaughn's curious, can-do singlemindedness the perfect foil for Linda's pragmatic support and quiet resolve. With Vaughn suddenly gone, she kept on. Perhaps there wasn’t a choice. But maybe some things just become a part of you, especially when it’s your love that made them.
Stephen Pannell’s Many-Splendoured Grenache
“The perfume is alluring. The wine is not about weight. There’s a lightness of touch on the palate that makes you think and engage with the wine. Making those wines that are contradictory, that’s the hardest thing to do.”
Stephen Pannell is talking about Nebbiolo—except we’re really talking about Grenache. And, as he’s wont to do, he’s hit the nail on the head on the latter’s perceived limitations. Love, after all, is a many-splendored thing. Is Grenache?
On tasting Steve's three single-site releases from 2022, I took the opportunity to speak to this guru of Grenache about how to convince others of the tension, texture and complexity this grape can achieve.
Mark of Purity: Grenache The Bulman Way
Forthright, articulate and relatively young, Mark Bulman is an Australian winemaker with an outsize reputation for Grenache. He created one of Australia's best-loved rosés from the variety, was the first to win the prestigious Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy for a Grenache and made an acclaimed wine from it in the Southern Rhône cru of Gigondas. Now he's released the first Australian reds under his own name, and they're distinctive, riveting wines. It's not surprising, given his love of Grenache and his conviction in crafting wines that show its potential to convey a sense of place, pleasure and surprise.
Australian Grenache: No more mister nice guy?
Grenache once covered more of the world’s surface than any other red-wine grape, and certainly had its day in the sun down under. It was never exactly an out-of-work actor, with its juicy, sweet-fruited affability scoring it roles in rosé, everyday blends, chillable varietal reds and even muscular Châteauneuf-du-Pape body doubles.
But a host of hot talents are sharpening up scripts giving this grape a plum role in A-list, single-vineyard wines. So, what’s it going to take to prove that Grenache has the range, depth and gravitas to be a box-office lead—and will the masses line the red carpet to check out its best work?
Hither & Yon: The path of Leask persistence
The most impressive thing about Richard Leask might well be his ordinariness. The wine world loves its myths. We glorify rarity and romanticise the Sisyphean image: nature the rock, perfection the pinnacle and Sisyphus the aloof, maybe cranky, grower. But this story doesn’t centre on a mythical figure; it gathers around the kind of Aussie everyman whose example—by dint of being unexceptional—is eminently followable. What’s more, the Hither & Yon co-founder’s affection for McLaren Vale and wine itself is as plain and contagious as the common cold.
McBryde stripped bare: The true story of Adelina
The truth matters to Colin McBryde, who wears his own as indelibly as his neck-to-heel tattoo bodysuit. A touched-up picture sold as genuine sells everyone short. As his trajectory from disaffected dropout to fêted vigneron shows, an authentic narrative arc lacks the smooth contours of an airbrushed curve.
Know your étiquette! Finding meaning in wine labels
“Once you label me, you negate me,” wrote philosopher Søren Kierkegaard – so eloquently quoted in Cantonese by Mike Myers in Wayne’s World. It’s a bit different in wine, where labels mean a lot and nothing much all at once. This video series from Vininspo! looks at specific terms that carry countless clues as to what you might expect when you pour yourself a glass.
Wine is a travel experience
The concept of wine as a travel experience is a central tenet of Vininspo! But what do we mean by it? The simplest interpretation is that by tasting wine we’re travelling through time, across cultures to a specific place.
But there’s another important angle. As when we embark on any hopeful adventure, we should be free to experience wine wide-eyed and whole-heartedly, without the slightest sense we don’t belong.
Adieu, Bonnezeaux Gonzo!
This book and an epiphany in a Paris bistro inspired a journey in storytelling. It started in freelancing, progressed to newsrooms and eventually to led to Vininspo! Please join me as I look back on that joyride and sentimentally close a chapter whose protagonist was Bonnezeaux Gonzo.
Variety show: Chardonnay
It’s the world’s most widely planted quality white wine grape - so widespread that you may ask yourself what constitutes a “typical” Chardonnay. Ed Merrison of Vininspo! gives a nutshell version of what this wonderful grape variety is all about.
Variety show: Mourvèdre
Born in Spain, on the up in France, the Mediterranean-hugging, warmth-loving black grape Mourvèdre is enjoying a day in the sun. Ed Merrison from Vininspo! digs a little deeper into its personality.
Maps and Legends
It mightn’t look like much but this childhood Christmas gift sparked the lifelong wanderlust that inevitably led to a love of wine.
Two Wolves: Alecia Moore’s wine adventure
“Wine makes you take a minute, and it makes you pay attention,” Alecia Moore, aka P!nk, tells Ed Merrison. “We’re always saying we should be more present. That’s a beautiful way to do it.”
A glass with Jancis Robinson
“Oh, I learn things every day!” says Her Royal Vinous, Jancis Robinson. “I suppose that’s one plus point of the world of wine expanding so much, and then there are all the new consumers.” Jancis talks to Ed Merrison of Vininspo! about her universal wine glass and the 8th edition of The World Atlas of Wine.
The Mount Mary mantra
With an unflinching faith in their vineyard and sense of finesse, the Middleton family’s wines have become as sought after as any in Australia. Sam Middleton tells Ed Merrison about sticking to your guns while restlessly seeking refinement.
G.D. Vajra: A sense of the famiglia
Art, wine and family have always been intertwined at the Piedmont estate G.D. Vajra. Giuseppe Vaira shares with Ed Merrison a story of profound, unprejudiced and unhurried learning.
Strange Case Of Dr Tim & Mr Shand
Tim Shand has an alter ego. There’s Tim: Offspring of two teachers, incisive, earnest looking – even a touch of the nerds about him. Logistics whizz; lob a few moving parts at him and he won’t flinch – just knock up something tidy in no time. And then there’s Shandy: Impish grin, sense of mischief, sub-surface surge of quiet confidence. Bit of a smart-arse; probably rubs a few people up the wrong way. Intuitive, impulsive and with more flair than perhaps he realises.
Talk to him you and you sense the tension between Tim and Shandy, something akin to the counterbalance ‘twixt smooth fruit and acid cut, has always been there. This profile, written in July 2017, looks at this multifaceted talent that was always destined to go far.
Dream Weaver: An Adelaide Hills pioneer
“It’s just so grand to be there,” says Geoff Weaver of his slice of Adelaide Hills heaven. “It’s beautiful to be engaged in what’s essentially an agricultural, horticultural and artistic pursuit in this glorious countryside,” he says
Viva AWIWA!
The inaugural Australian Women in Wine Awards (AWIWA) are with us. And don’t waste time wondering whether these awards are “necessary”. Instead think of women who make wine, tend vineyards, write restaurant lists, run businesses, put on events, welcome you at the cellar door and in any way make your wine experience better. As it stands female participation in the wine industry is estimated to be around 10%. That's both a huge imbalance and drastic waste of potential. These awards ultimately aim to redress the balance and chase that potential.
Theresa Breuer, the rebel’s daughter
Theresa Breuer was just 20 when her father Bernhard - perhaps Germany’s doughtiest campaigner for its dry Riesling - died suddenly in 2004. But she barely blinked before continuing the Rheingau estate’s trajectory as one of the finest in the world.