Archive for the ‘Mick Barrett’ Category
Friday, September 22nd, 2006
During Wine Australia, Mick and Hugo chatted with Di Hill of Transtherm Australia (transtherm.com.au). We go through the correct storage conditions for your wine including temperatures to serve and store both red and white wine. We also walk through (literally) some of Transtherm's options for combating Australia's vino-unfriendly climate. Find more info
here.
Thanks to Di for giving us the time for the interview (and no thanks to
Liebherr).
If you have a few minutes, please fill out our
listener survey here to help bridge the gap between your knowledge of us, and our knowledge of you. And it's okay to drink and write.
Posted in Blog, Hugo Sharp, Mick Barrett, Podcast, Wine Australia, Wine Storage | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, August 30th, 2006
While enjoying a live band recently, I had the usual feeling of "why don't I get off my arse and go to more live events!". I then realised that I'd missed a few tasting events recently due to a busy schedule. In an effort to get myself (and anyone else who might be in the same boat) "in the mood", I'm posting an interview Mick and I did at a Clare Valley tasting event a little while ago.
The interview is with
Andrew Wood, producer of
Divine: Food & Wine, a very good, independent magazine.
If you don't get to many tastings, I highly recommend them. I'm talking about the smaller ones held more often than you might think around most capital cities. This one brought together over two dozen producers from the Clare Valley in South Australia. I think it sold out but there was plenty of room and no lines and was well worth the 40 bucks admission (we actually got in free though which was great).
Any inspired Australian listeners might want to check out the interactive
Australian Wine Events Calendar I put together under the "resources" heading in the top menu. You can either browse though it from its page or add it to your own Google Calendar and have it automatically updated. Most events are click-able and some even have maps attached to them. It's just something I created for my own use and thought I'd make it public. Hope you find it useful.
Anyway, that's it for this week.
Enjoy,
Hugo
Update: The comments entry box has been fixed so feel free to leave your thoughts regarding the interview… or anything you feel like.
Posted in Clare Valley, Hugo Sharp, Interviews, Mick Barrett, Podcast, Region Reviews, South Australia, Tasting Events | 7 Comments »
Thursday, July 6th, 2006
OWS#10 is all about Zinfandel – the who, the what, the why. A side note of the show is the reasoning behind wineries putting out two versions of a single varietal wine.
Zinfandel is a big boy amongst grapes grown in the States but it doesn’t get much airplay in Oz. Join Hugo and Mick as they taste two fine Australian offerings. Both are from Kangarilla Road of McLaren Vale in South Australia – 2004 Fleurieu Zinfandel (A$17) and the 2004 McLaren Vale Zinfandel (A$30).
Posted in Hugo Sharp, Kangarilla Road, Krinklewood, Label Reviews, McLaren Vale, Mick Barrett, Podcast, Varietal Reviews, Zinfandel | 7 Comments »
Thursday, May 18th, 2006
OWS#9 brings the final episode in the Sydney Royal Wine Show twin-pack. Probably our biggest show yet! There’s 3 interviews and 2 bottle reviews and I must apologise for the delay. It takes hours and hours to get everything together.
I probably should have split it into three smaller chunks and released them more regularly. What do people think?
1:30 First up is James Halliday, a prolific Australian wine writer and nice chap to boot.
11:20 Secondly was an interview with Matthew Jukes who seems to have a toe in most forms of wine media in the UK. Check out his site at www.matthewjukes.com.
14:30 The last interview is with Lindsay McCall of Paringa Estate Wines situated on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. Very nice guy who, along with his wife Margaret, produces some great wines. Check out their website at www.paringaestate.com.au.
22:30 Tastings include the Thorn-Clarke 2004 Shotfire Ridge Shiraz and Houghton’s 2001 Pemberton Chardonnay Pinot Noir.
Cheers
Hugo and Mick
Posted in Hugo Sharp, Interviews, Krinklewood, Mick Barrett, Mornington Peninsula, Noteworthy, Paringa Estate, Podcast, Sydney International, Tasting Events | 1 Comment »
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
Mick and Hugo attended the 2006 Sydney Royal Wine Show last month and recorded a few speeches, interviews and trophy tastings. The event is enormous and very professional and we must thank Anita Solentic for giving us the royal treatment while we were there. Full show results are available by clicking here.
This podcast includes two speeches given on the presentation day by Matthew Jukes and James Halliday about the show’s results and Australian wine in general.
2:45 – Guest international judge Matthew Jukes gives his views on the state of Australian wine in 2006.
9:00 – Tyrrells Vat 1 Semillon 1994 won the trophy for “best white table wineâ€. A legendary bottle well worth familiarising yourself with as a benchmark Hunter Semillon.
11:30 – McWilliams’ 1998 Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon won “best white table wine (in previous vintages)â€.
13:35 – Head judge of the show, and well respected critic, James Halliday gives a short speech regarding his conclusions on the winners.
16:50 – Leasingham’s Classic Clare Riesling 2005 won “best young white wineâ€. The link only gives notes to the 1995 release for some reason.
Hope you enjoy the podcast.
Posted in Clare Valley, Hugo Sharp, Hunter Valley, Interviews, Krinklewood, Leasingham Estate, McWilliams, Mick Barrett, News Review, Podcast, Sydney International, Tasting Events, Tyrrells | 7 Comments »
Tuesday, February 28th, 2006
Here’s the second and final part of our coverage of the Exhibition of Victorian Winemakers. It was a stellar event and well worth checking out next year. Cam Wheeler has put up an extensive review of some of the wines on offer at the event. Click here to access it.
This podcast includes three separate interviews Mick and Hugo conducted on the second night of proceedings. They are as follows;
5:30 – George Mihaly of Paradigm Hill Wines shares some insights into the role of tannins in structure and the need for good structure when pairing wine and food. Paradigm Hill is a family run vineyard and winery located in the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. Their website details all the facts and figures anyone would ever need to know about the wines they produce and the grapes they grow. Fantastic reading over tea and biscuits. Click here for the Paradigm Hill website.
14:55 – David Dungan, Marketing Manager of Punt Road Wines shares some of the history of Punt Road and describes some of the logistical problems a boutique winery may face when exporting to the US. Click here for the Punt Road website.
26:55 – Lastly, I spoke to Stephen Thompson of The Wine Society about the benefits you might find from joining a wine club. Click here for their website.
Hope you enjoy the podcast.
Posted in Exhibition of Victorian Winemakers, Hugo Sharp, Interviews, Mick Barrett, Mornington Peninsula, Paradigm Hill, Podcast, Punt Road, Tasting Events, The Wine Society | 5 Comments »
Friday, February 3rd, 2006
This is part one of a two part series on the event. The second part will follow shortly.
‘Tis the season for wine shows and we’re all set to bring you as many interviews as we possibly can from upcoming shows. These include the NSW Inland Food & Wine Festival (this week), the Sydney Royal Wine Show (next week) and the Frankland Estate International Riesling Tasting (12th and 13th of Feb). It’s going to be a tough job, but we’ll give it our all.
The interviews this episode include Roy Moorfield, who founded the event 27 years ago and Keppell Smith, owner and winemaker at Savaterre. These guys were most accommodating with being interviewed on the spur of the moment and both are clearly very passionate about what they do. Keppell produces some fantastic wine and I highly recommend adding yourself to his mailing list. Savaterre’s production and distribution are limited but the mailing list is a direct way to access the coming releases.
Murray from Winetastic has more detailed notes of the event on his blog, so check them out.
That’s it for this episode. To ask us a question, or leave feedback, use the comments button bellow.
Hugo
Posted in Exhibition of Victorian Winemakers, Hugo Sharp, Interviews, Mick Barrett, Podcast, Savaterre, Tasting Events | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, January 10th, 2006
OWS#5 features an interview with Mark Baulderstone who is Vice President of Riedel Glass for Asia Pacific and Middle East. Listen in for an in depth tasting of the same wine from three different glasses. I must say i went in hoping to get scientific answers but was so blown away by the different experience each glass presented that i ended up sitting back and going along for the ride. So sit yourself down, grab some glasses resembling those pictured below, pop a nice bot and taste along to see for yourself.
With over 150 different wine glasses in their range, you might be surprised to hear Mark say that you can cover most variety bases with just 3 or 4 glasses. This was very comforting to me (as well as my bank balance) but it’s still nice to know that you can go the extra mile if so desired.
We used three glasses from Riedel’s Vinum Series which would cover most varietal needs on a day to day basis, they were the Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon (Bordeaux) and Burgundy glasses.
The wines are both from Kim Crawford Wines of New Zealand;
2005 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
2002 Hawke’s Bay Merlot
That’s it for this episode.
All the best
Hugo & Mick
Posted in Glassware Reviews, Hugo Sharp, Interviews, Krinklewood, Mick Barrett, Noteworthy, Podcast, Site News, Virtual Tasting | 8 Comments »
Saturday, October 22nd, 2005
OWS#2 features a review of one of Australia’s largest wine producing regions, an explanation of what to do a look for when tasting wine and a discussion of the “new world versus old world” wine debate.
Intro:
During the week, Mick interviewed Matt Gant, last years “Australian Young Winemaker of the Year”, which will feature in the next episode. Don’t miss a unique opportunity to taste St Hallett’s superb 2003 Faith Shiraz with the man who made it.
News:
Research finds wine helps you socially!
Bubbly for Aussie Blokes says Fosters.
$1084 for a bottle of off-the-shelf Penfolds.
Wine makes France go round: Fine French wine used to fuel cars.
$24 bottle wins Adelaide Wine Show. The bottle was 2004 Thorn-Clarke Shotfire Ridge Quartage from the Barrossa.
Features:
Review the Hunter Valley Wine Region. The Hunter is known for it’s aged Semillons among other things and as part of the review, we outline how to taste a glass of wine as we delve into Brokenwood’s 2005 Semillon.
Old world snobs and wine McDonalds’ style: we open up the “New World vs Old World” wine debate.
All the best
Hugo & Mick
Posted in Brokenwood, Hugo Sharp, Hunter Valley, Krinklewood, Making Wine, Mick Barrett, News Review, Podcast, Region Reviews, Semillon, White Wines | 8 Comments »
Wednesday, October 5th, 2005
Hi all,
OWS#1 includes a label review of Moutadam Winery and we talk about a fortified wine tasting night Mick attended recently.
Intro:
Thanks to Andrew at spittoon.biz.
Mention another local vino podcast – Fermentation Media.
News:
French vines at risk from virus.
Big news from Constellation Brands, the world’s largest wine business.
Australian beverage companies Fosters and Southcorp merge.
The head of Californian wine company, 360 Global Wine, is on leave after a parol violation for being drunk.
The US and European Union have reached a deal over the use of wine names.
Special Note:
We are going to attempt to engage more of your senses. Whenever we plan to review a region, variety, label or bottle in the next show, we’ll let you know of one example bottle you might like to pick up during the week. You can then either have it during the week and form some opinions yourself, or open it up when you’re listening to the review. We won’t expect everyone to be able to pick up each bottle, but we’ll try to pick ones that are in most stores. This concept will hopefully help in your understanding of what we’re talking about (we may even start to sound better…).
We’re reviewing the Hunter Valley next show, and as such, have suggested you pick up a bottle of Brokenwood’s 2005 Semillon.
Features:
Review the Mountadam Winery of Eden Valley, South Australia. Mick spent six months at this picturesque, boutique winery working on their 2001 vintages.
Talk about a fortified wine tasting Mick attended recently. It was a night of Port, Sherry, Muscat and Torquay with an opulent ending.
All the best
Hugo & Mick
Posted in Hugo Sharp, Label Reviews, Mick Barrett, Mountadam, Podcast | 3 Comments »