How to Pick Out a Good Australian Wine – What to Look For & Avoid
Sometimes we can’t be an expert in everything, especially wines from different regions, but if you’re confused about what makes a good Australian wine, wine experts Jane Lopes and Jonathan Ross have 3 great tips for you to try. They are authors of the book How to Drink Australian An Essential Modern Wine Book .
Jane Lopes and Jonathan Ross: There’s never been a more exciting time to drink Australian wine. The country most known for cheap critter wines and bold shiraz is actually the country to go to for quality wines in just about every style and price-point. Australia has reached an amazing confluence of generational knowledge, old-vine material, and a spirit of innovation that, combined, is creating some of the world’s greatest wines.
So how to you pick out a good bottle?
- Be willing to try something new. There are world-class wines made from the most popular and frequently consumed grapes: chardonnay, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, and merlot. But, when grown at scale to achieve easy prices, they fall short almost everywhere. If you venture further afield to try, say, an Australian nero d’avola, grenache or riesling, there’s a better chance that you’ll find something made and selected with care, rather than something manufactured to meet the demand of the market.
- Look for a region on the bottle. There are plenty of great Australian wines that say ‘South Eastern Australia’ on the back (a catch-all appellation for the wine regions of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and Queensland) – take, for example, Penfolds Grange: Australia’s most prized and expensive wine! But often you can find wines made at an estate vineyard when there is a more specific wine region on the label: something like Heathcote, Barossa Valley, Yarra Valley, Beechworth, Tasmania, Margaret River, etc. The list is long!
- Find a wine shop you trust. This is the best piece of advice in all matters wine! Wine shops that spend lots of energy and time selecting bottles for you are going to come up with the best bottles. And small, independently owned wine shops will often be able to work with the smaller production wines that grocery stores and national chains won’t. So find your local wine merchant, and get to know them. They’ll get to know you – your pallet, your budget, your tastes – and will help you find the best bottle.
ABOUT Jane Lopes and Jonathan Ross
Jane Lopes is a sommelier, author, and importer, having worked at New York’s Eleven Madison Park, Nashville’s The Catbird Seat, Chicago’s The Violet Hour, and most recently as the wine director at Melbourne’s Attica, before passing the prestigious master sommelier exam in 2018. Lopes published her first book, Vignette: Stories of Life and Wine in 100 Bottles, in 2019. In 2020, Lopes co-founded Legend, an Australian wine imports company, with husband Jonathan Ross, to help bring the great wines they’d experienced in Australia to the US. She is now based in Nashville. She is the co-author of How To Drink Australian: An Essential Modern Wine Book (Murdoch Books / September 2023 / $60).
Jonathan Ross is a sommelier and wine importer whose career in restaurants has included posts at New York’s Eleven Madison Park, Oceana and Anthos, and as the beverage director for Australia’s Rockpool Dining Group. Ross passed the prestigious master sommelier exam in 2017, has curated wine offerings for Qantas Airlines, and founded the boutique wine label Micro Wines. In 2020, Ross returned to the US, eager to spread the word of the world-class wine he’d worked with in Australia, and co-founded Legend Imports in 2020 with his wife Jane Lopes. He is the co-author of How To Drink Australian: An Essential Modern Wine Book (Murdoch Books / September 2023 / $60).
Gucci x Loulou Ramatuelle Collab a Popup Restaurant on the Beach in St. Tropez
If you were going to do a fashion and lifestyle popup that included great French food, and you could do it anywhere that you choose, where would you?
It doesn’t really matter, because the House of Gucci already wisely chose St. Tropez, and we are there for it!
Revealing a popup space on the Côte d’Azur, Gucci designed a chic and stylish place to be seen and to eat well in Loulou Ramatuelle’s lounge area that features a curated selection of exclusive summer pieces. Plus food and drink.
So now you just have to get that coveted reservation.
Watch the 14th Annual TASTE AWARDS Television Broadcast on PBS on Demand
Now in its 14th year, the annual TASTE AWARDS is televised across the United States.
This star-studded television special is broadcast exclusively on select public television stations nationwide, and is also viewable on the PBS Video on Demand app.
Award winners who accepted their awards in person included well-known celebrities Al Roker and Lidia Bastianich. In addition Kathy Fang (House of Fang/Food Network), and network executives such as Chris Knight (CEO, Gusto TV), and Lisa-Renee Ramirez (President, Lifestyle Networks & Executive Producer, Allen Media Group / Entertainment Studios) were attendance, along with producers and representatives from Nat Geo/Disney, Turner Classic Movies, and more such as Edward Delling-Williams, Zahirah Marty, Jenny Buckley, and Zarela, as well as the the winner of this year’s inaugural Bob Saget Award for Best Comedy or Humor.
This season’s ceremony included hosts Michelle Harris (Alive and Well TV, syndicated nationwide), Emmy-award winning actor Kim Estes, Stuart Brazell (TV + Digital Host, Actor, Creator), plus Award Presenters Margaret McSweeney (host and producer, Kitchen Chat), Marcel Vigneron (Top Chef, restaurateur, TV host), and Bita and Beata (Modern Persian Food). The 2023 Ambassador and Miss TASTE AWARDS was Amanda Sophia Moran.
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- See on the PBS App on Demand (watch the Awards Show below)
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WATCH ON THE PBS APP