Hither & Yon: The path of Leask persistence
The most impressive thing about Richard Leask might well be his ordinariness. The wine world loves its myths. We glorify rarity and romanticise the Sisyphean image: nature the rock, perfection the pinnacle and Sisyphus the aloof, maybe cranky, grower. But this story doesn’t centre on a mythical figure; it gathers around the kind of Aussie everyman whose example—by dint of being unexceptional—is eminently followable. What’s more, the Hither & Yon co-founder’s affection for McLaren Vale and wine itself is as plain and contagious as the common cold.
McBryde stripped bare: The true story of Adelina
The truth matters to Colin McBryde, who wears his own as indelibly as his neck-to-heel tattoo bodysuit. A touched-up picture sold as genuine sells everyone short. As his trajectory from disaffected dropout to fêted vigneron shows, an authentic narrative arc lacks the smooth contours of an airbrushed curve.
Know your étiquette! Finding meaning in wine labels
“Once you label me, you negate me,” wrote philosopher Søren Kierkegaard – so eloquently quoted in Cantonese by Mike Myers in Wayne’s World. It’s a bit different in wine, where labels mean a lot and nothing much all at once. This video series from Vininspo! looks at specific terms that carry countless clues as to what you might expect when you pour yourself a glass.
Wine is a travel experience
The concept of wine as a travel experience is a central tenet of Vininspo! But what do we mean by it? The simplest interpretation is that by tasting wine we’re travelling through time, across cultures to a specific place.
But there’s another important angle. As when we embark on any hopeful adventure, we should be free to experience wine wide-eyed and whole-heartedly, without the slightest sense we don’t belong.
Adieu, Bonnezeaux Gonzo!
This book and an epiphany in a Paris bistro inspired a journey in storytelling. It started in freelancing, progressed to newsrooms and eventually to led to Vininspo! Please join me as I look back on that joyride and sentimentally close a chapter whose protagonist was Bonnezeaux Gonzo.
Variety show: Chardonnay
It’s the world’s most widely planted quality white wine grape - so widespread that you may ask yourself what constitutes a “typical” Chardonnay. Ed Merrison of Vininspo! gives a nutshell version of what this wonderful grape variety is all about.
Variety show: Mourvèdre
Born in Spain, on the up in France, the Mediterranean-hugging, warmth-loving black grape Mourvèdre is enjoying a day in the sun. Ed Merrison from Vininspo! digs a little deeper into its personality.
Maps and Legends
It mightn’t look like much but this childhood Christmas gift sparked the lifelong wanderlust that inevitably led to a love of wine.
Two Wolves: Alecia Moore’s wine adventure
“Wine makes you take a minute, and it makes you pay attention,” Alecia Moore, aka P!nk, tells Ed Merrison. “We’re always saying we should be more present. That’s a beautiful way to do it.”
A glass with Jancis Robinson
“Oh, I learn things every day!” says Her Royal Vinous, Jancis Robinson. “I suppose that’s one plus point of the world of wine expanding so much, and then there are all the new consumers.” Jancis talks to Ed Merrison of Vininspo! about her universal wine glass and the 8th edition of The World Atlas of Wine.
The Mount Mary mantra
With an unflinching faith in their vineyard and sense of finesse, the Middleton family’s wines have become as sought after as any in Australia. Sam Middleton tells Ed Merrison about sticking to your guns while restlessly seeking refinement.
G.D. Vajra: A sense of the famiglia
Art, wine and family have always been intertwined at the Piedmont estate G.D. Vajra. Giuseppe Vaira shares with Ed Merrison a story of profound, unprejudiced and unhurried learning.
Dream Weaver: An Adelaide Hills pioneer
“It’s just so grand to be there,” says Geoff Weaver of his slice of Adelaide Hills heaven. “It’s beautiful to be engaged in what’s essentially an agricultural, horticultural and artistic pursuit in this glorious countryside,” he says
Viva AWIWA!
The inaugural Australian Women in Wine Awards (AWIWA) are with us. And don’t waste time wondering whether these awards are “necessary”. Instead think of women who make wine, tend vineyards, write restaurant lists, run businesses, put on events, welcome you at the cellar door and in any way make your wine experience better. As it stands female participation in the wine industry is estimated to be around 10%. That's both a huge imbalance and drastic waste of potential. These awards ultimately aim to redress the balance and chase that potential.
Theresa Breuer, the rebel’s daughter
Theresa Breuer was just 20 when her father Bernhard - perhaps Germany’s doughtiest campaigner for its dry Riesling - died suddenly in 2004. But she barely blinked before continuing the Rheingau estate’s trajectory as one of the finest in the world.
To be dexeterous & deft
“The ups and downs were extraordinary,” says Tod Dexter of the Mornington Peninsula’s learning curve. In fact, his journey is full of twists and turns of all sorts, beginning with a US ski season that turned into a life in wine. Ed Merrison of Vininspo! has the story.
TWR’s Anna Flowerday plays it cool
Anna Flowerday of TWR says “cool” a lot. This passionate organic wine-grower and champion of regenerative viticulture shows that working hard is dead cool when you do what you love and love what you grow.
Don Quijote de la Yarra
“I’ve always enjoyed a sense of adventure, and as you get older you realise that pretty much everyone is on a journey in some respect,” says Andrew Marks. The self-styled Wanderer’s peregrinations between the Yarra Valley and Spain’s Costa Brava make him obvious fodder for Vininspo!
Imagination and wine
In Imagination & Time, British philosopher Mary Warnock says imagination’s the key if we’re to go beyond witnessing beauty to actually feel it. “The difference is this: in feeling the beauty of objects, we enjoy not only the common, shared pleasures of the senses, but also the private pleasures of the imagination, peculiar to ourselves, and such that we have to struggle to articulate them.” Vininspo! ponders what this means for wine.