South East Australia is a geographical indication (GI) covering the entire south-eastern third of Australia. The western boundary of this area extends 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) across the Australian continent from the Pacific coast of Queensland to the Southern Ocean coast of South Australia. This vast wine 'super zone' effectively encompasses all the major Australian wine regions outside Western Australia. Rainforest, mountain ranges, scrubland, desert and Dry riverbeds occupy the majority of the land in the South East Australian area.
Only in the cooler coastal areas do vineyards play a significant role in the landscape. The GI covers the states of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania in their entirety, as well as the south-eastern halves of Queensland and South Australia. The sheer Size of this area - and the diversity of its climates, topography and latitudes - makes it a GI of rather limited significance. Even the largest AVAs in the United States do not represent half of the area called South Eastern Australia.
Château Angélus’ announcement that it is withdrawing from the process to create the 2022 St-Emilion Classification has sent shockwaves through the region and raised questions about the ranking’s future form. With Châteaux Ausone and Cheval Blanc having announced their withdrawal last year, three of the top-ranking ‘Premier Grand Cru Classé A’ estates from the last edition of the St-Emilion Classification in 2012 will not be candidates for the revised ranking, due this ye ...
Celebrities from all walks of fame are stepping into the wine world. Sports stars, actors, musicians and TV personalities are all jumping on the wine bandwagon, some owning vineyards and others getting more hands-on in the winemaking itself. This growing trend shows no sign of slowing with recent celebrities to launch their own wines including George Clooney, Gordon Ramsey and Gary Barlow. The Take That star follows in the footsteps of pop singer Kylie Minigue, who launched a successful range of ...
Moneypenny, James Bond, Q. Not a bad trio for your wine to share the screen with in its latest cameo. I’ll try not to give too many spoilers if you haven’t yet seen No Time To Die, but I don’t think it gives too much away to say that Bond can’t resist swiping two generous glasses of Château Angélus (2005, although you don’t see the vintage on screen) for himself and Moneypenny from a bottle that Q had carefully opened for his date later that night. This is the third Bond film in which Angélus ha ...