Australia

AustraliaMy wine career started at Oddbins in 2000.  I loved Oddbins’ culture of curiosity and passion about wine, and it was a context in which I thrived, as did Australian wine with a then unparalleled range of regionally distinct wines, with many from boutique producers with whom I was in regular contact. Without exception, I found them to be driven by a love of what they do and a culture of excellence, open-mindedness and “can-do-ism” that excited me.

This experience was reinforced by three weeks spent travelling to Australia’s key wine states in 2004 – a whistle-stop tour of Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales.  And, since going freelance, I’ve kept bang up to date with developments Down Under with regular press trips, vintage experience at Cullen and judging in Western Australia.

In 2010, I was one of 14  international wine opinion leaders selected for The Landmark Australia Tutorial in the Yarra Valley – an  intensive course consisting of a series of tastings and themed master classes charting the development of Australia’s fine wine credentials.  And as of 2010, I contribute about Australia for the award winning publication Wine Behind the Label.  You can read a “taster edition” and obtain a special The Wine Detective 10% discount on Wine Behind the Label by clicking here.  (I should declare that I receive a percentage of any book purchase made via this link and a royalty on future sales).

Under Archive of Australia below you’ll find the fruits of my research in the form of tastings notes and commentary.  And if these whet your appetite, contact me at sarah@thewinedetective.co.uk about tutored tastings and events I present independently and on behalf of Wine Australia, the generic marketing body for Australian wines.

Under important links you’ll find the Wine Australia site useful for information industry news and the Wine Education tab gives you tons of info about the grapes, wines, regions,  etc etc.  I’ve also listed UK retailers who focus on Australian wines.

Australian Reports

Australia Links