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Tim's Ravings
It’s quite likely I will be struck down by lightning
In writing this it’s quite likely I will be struck down by lightning but here goes anyway. Deep breath. I occasionally quite like a white wine instead of red. So far so good. If I have white wine it’s usually a Semillon, a variety that lives in the shadow of its bigger, bolder and better known [...]
Growing grapes and making wine
I love the annual rhythm of growing grapes and making wine. For us vignerons it’s all about the weather and thus every vintage and every wine is completely different. There is no better illustration than the contrast of this season and the last. This time last year we were enjoying one of our best winter and springs. [...]
Vintage of the century?
Every vintage I have a bet with a mate to see who can make a public declaration that this one will be vintage of the century.It’s a ritual begun by the winemakers of the Hunter Valley decades ago. Their wet and warm climate means every other vintage is, invariably, pretty ordinary. Getting in front of [...]
What defines wine quality?
My dad dragged out a bottle of ‘86 Grange for Christmas lunch. It was great, always is.Between arguments over Donald Trump and Pauline Hanson (my Dad won, it was his Grange after all), we got to talking about this unique wine which over the past decade has evolved to be one of Australia’s biggest commodi [...]
Vintage 2017 - the story so far...
In a word, wet. Another word, bloody. Bloody wet sums it up nicely actually.The vines are as happy as pigs in muck, the Vineyard team not so much...With over 50 times more winter rain than last year so far, and more days of rain than not, pruning was an absolute nightmare to finish. There is [...]
Vintage Report 2016
Happy vines make happy wine. And happy wines make a happy winemaker.So it was with the 2016 Vintage just finished.In one of my recent Ravings I may have given the wrong impression that I wasn’t happy when I moaned about all of the hurdles in front of us poor vignerons; from droughts to floods, frosts to heatwaves. [...]
Vignerons do not have a natural inclination towards optimism.
Vignerons do not have a natural inclination towards optimism, and I’ll tell you why.It starts in winter each when pruners brave freezing cold and bitter winds to prune the dormant vines. It takes many months and is always a race to beat Spring’s wake-up call for the sleeping vineThen comes budburst, when the vine starts [...]
One Direction; we said it would end in tears.
You would all be well aware by now that Huntington Estate does not follow fashions nor does it chase fads. For instance we warned against Justin Bieber then said the same about One Direction, we said it would end in tears. I said the same about The Beatles. Haha, told you so. It all started back [...]
Alcohol abuse is a scourge
Alcohol abuse is a scourge. It destroys lives and comes at a huge economic and social cost. Taxation is a good way to discourage abuse, just like with cigarettes right? Well not with the current system.While I’m sure there are a couple of billionaires rotting their livers with three bottles of Grange a day, and [...]
Dear Aunt Agony Wine...
Dear Aunt Wine Agony,I have a particular grievance that may be ruining my life. It prevents me from enjoying dinner parties and I am even afraid to invite friends around for drinks anymore. I am a social outcast, desolated by blandness.In short, the wines I see lately in bottle shops are overpriced, overhyped and just plain boring. The Wine World seems [...]
