Send us Fan Mail We catch up with our old mate Warwick Tiernan to unpack how a lifelong love of food, travel, and good chats at bottle shops turns into genuine wine confidence. We taste our way through a Victorian long lunch and focus on stories, regions, and smart buying rather than wine jargon for its own sake. Follow us on Warwicks long lunch and taste along! Wine 1: Redbank King Valley, Elevage Prosecco - https://www.redbankwines.com.au/products/elevage-prosecco Wine 2: Mitchel Ha...

Send us Fan Mail We follow the trail of wine and war across the 20th century and it gets stranger, darker, and more human than most wine trivia ever admits. We talk through why the French state treated wine as a cultural and strategic necessity in World War I, including the famous daily ration that grows over time. From there, we look at what war does to vineyards in practical terms: destroyed vines, shortages of copper and sulphur for sprays, labour gaps filled by women and children, and th...

Send us Fan Mail Wine people love a good crisis chat, but what happens when the story gets so grim that customers start believing wine itself is the problem? We’re tackling that head-on, with a glass in hand and a focus on what actually moves the Australian wine industry forward. We start with a bright spot: the Len Evans Tutorial scholars and why this intense, blind-tasting program is considered one of Australia’s most prestigious wine education pathways. From judging workshops to museum wi...

Send us Fan Mail Your DMs run the show this time, and the questions swing wildly between deeply practical wine advice and the kind of chaos you only get when you put three opinionated people in front of microphones. We start with the story so many of you asked for: Meg’s time in Chile, including what it’s like moving countries on a one-way ticket, learning Spanish in the cellar, and working outside the big-city wine scene. It turns into a bigger chat about wine careers, humility, and why “mak...

Send us Fan Mail We build a fast, practical way to remember German Riesling by region, then test it with a blind Spätlese flight that forces us to use Mel's... interesting study technique. Along the way we unpack Prädikat ripeness levels, GG and VDP labelling, and the tasting cues that separate Mosel, Rheingau, Nahe and Rheinhessen. If you want to taste along with us check out the list below and message us your thoughts! Wine 1: Donnhoff Riesling Oberhauser Brucke Spatlese, 2023 - https...

Send us Fan Mail The Australian vintage just shrank, but the story is not as simple as “less wine equals higher prices”. We unpack Wine Australia’s national vintage report, why production is down across regions, and what it suggests about oversupply, water constraints, and the long, messy shift from bulk wine to premium Australian wine. If you work in wine, run a cellar door, or simply care about what ends up in your glass, these numbers explain a lot about where the market is heading. Then ...

Send us Fan Mail A winemaker gets cut, a flagship winery gets prepped for sale, and suddenly we are not talking about tasting notes anymore. We dig into the Oakridge bombshell: David Bicknell, the winemaker many credit with changing the direction of Australian Chardonnay, is made redundant after decades shaping the Yarra Valley’s most influential single-vineyard wines. The language around it matters, the emotion is real, and the business logic is confronting. From there we zoom out into the ...

Send us Fan Mail Get your clipboard, lab coat and pen at the ready as Meg and Mel NERD OUT on this episode about Gamay. We go deep on Gamay and Beaujolais, from Nouveau history to why carbonic maceration can taste like lollies even when the wine is dry. Along the way we test a budget French bottle against a pricier Cru and an Australian Gamay, then share practical hacks for dissolved CO2 and reduction. Wine 1: Mommessin, Les Papillons Gamay, https://www.danmurphys.com.au/product/D...

Send us Fan Mail A $25 McLaren Vale Shiraz wins Best Shiraz in the world, so we put Beresford to the test with side-by-side pours and zero patience for hype. We chase what makes the wines feel so seamless, from sub-region minerality in Blewitt Springs to oak choices, label alcohol quirks, and of course the incredible Wine making by Beresfords own Natalie Cleghorn. Beresford Estate Shiraz, 2024, $25:00: https://www.beresfordestate.com.au/products/classic-shiraz-750mlBeresford Estate Blewitt Sp...

Send us Fan Mail We stack up the week’s wine news with a mix of hard numbers and genuine bright spots, from rock-bottom bulk prices to a more diverse global awards landscape. We also get real about mental health in the Australian wine industry and why connection, provenance and ethics still matter when times are tough. • Australian bulk Shiraz and Cabernet sitting at extreme low values • what bulk wine is for and why shipping in bulk can be cheaper and more sustainable • how...