They’ve expanded into wine and have a fantastic range of cleanskin wines sourced from top vineyards in Australia.

You can personalise the bottles by designing your own label or modifying one of their generic labels. Check it out!

He also gives an overview of trends in the Australian wine industry. These are some of the points he highlights:

• There is a marked trend towards chardonnays with lower alcohol content - 12.5% to 13.5% rather than 13.5% to 14.5%.
• 2008 red wines especially those from the Barossa and Clare Valleys and McLaren Vale are better than their 07 counterparts.
• The percentage of Western Australia wines is higher, partly because of the popularity of sauvignon blanc and sauvignon semillon blends. Also there are large scale plantings in the state gaining in maturity and quality.
• The trend towards screwcaps over corks continues.

Winemakers comments “The 2005 Shiraz is a deep purple in colour, with spice, eucalypt and concentrated sweet berries on the nose. The palate is balanced and has great length and definition showing sweet fruit, dusty oak and long dry tannins.”

Buy now from Jack’s Wine

If you’re a riesling fan then take the opportunity to grab a case at an outstanding price for the quality of wine.

Shop now for the Clare Valley riesling cleanskin from Jack’s Wine

It won’t be hard to pick 10. There is a selection of 12 wines to choose from so mix it up or make it easy and order 10 of your favourite to get the free offer.

Shop now and collect your 3 free Yellowglen Yellow >>

Here are our suggestions for selecting the perfect wines to complement Christmas food in Australia and get parties off to a sparkling start!

We’ll start with Sparkling wines, the obvious choice for Christmas party drinks. There are some great sparkling whites and reds for under $10 or you can opt for something special like the superb Croser 2005 at $47.95 a bottle.

Christmas in Australia often means cold meat and seafood platters eaten in a relaxed setting outdoors. The best wines to pair with Christmas seafood are crisp, dry white styles such as Sauvignon Blanc  or Chardonnay.

If you prefer a red with cold roast turkey then a good, easy drinking choice is a Merlot or a festive sparkling shiraz.

Better still let the experts do the work for you. We’ve found 3 super mixed cases of premium wines for Christmas.

Taste alone is categorised in four ways: bitter, salty, sour and sweet. The complexity of what we taste comes from a combination of experiences of which smell makes up a large part. Sight and even touch can also play a role.

The reason we talk about developing a palate is that while we react instinctively to smells and taste, it takes some knowledge and practice to be able to identify and remember individual components.

So, how do you go about learning the skills required to recognise wine flavours?

One of the best ways is to deliberately taste the flavours commonly found in wine and build up a deeper appreciation and memory for these flavours.  You could start with berry flavours found in hearty red wines and taste the difference between the fruits. Don’t start with wines but with the fruits themselves or, for a more concentrated flavour, spoonfuls of jam or preserves. By doing this you can develop your own palate and learn to know blueberry, redcurrant, blackberry etc.

Over time you’ll find it easier to recognise the same flavours in wine. It might help to ask specific questions while developing your wine palate. So instead of starting with the open ended question of what you can taste in a wine it might help to ask yourself if it tastes of blackberries or redcurrants for example.

Do the same with other core flavour profiles such as chocolate, pineapple, mushrooms.

A fantastic guide for knowing what flavours to look out for and how to categorise them is this wine wheel.

As well as tasting lots of things also cultivate the habit of smelling a variety of things and remembering the different sensations and aromas. Smell fruit, vegies, plants, food, in fact everything and you’ll find that you’ll quickly be able to place aromas.

Taste lots of wine especially two or three different wines of the same variety together whenever you get the chance.Talk about what you can taste if you have the opportunity but also remember that everyone’s frame of reference is unique to them so what you taste can be different to someone elses experience.

Wine and wine accessories are very popular gifts for Father’s Day. We’ve picked out the best wine gifts that can be ordered online and delivered anywhere in Australia or New Zealand, the UK and the USA.

2 bottles of White Wine, Red Wine or One of Each

Winemakers Choice have selected premium bottles of white and red wine and presented them beautifully in your choice of a satin lined cardboard box or a wooden box. Our favourite is the two bottles of red. The selection is a Palandri Cabernet Merlot 2003 and a Zilzie S23 Shiraz 2006. The Cabernet Merlot is from the Margaret River. It’s an excellent vintage and great drinking now or for cellaring for a few years. The Shiraz is from a Victorian family winery.

Wine Lovers’ Gift Box

This is a great Father’s Day present, nicely presented and with a selection of goodies for someone who likes wine.

The gift box contains a bottle of Gramps Barossa Valley Shiraz, a book on cellaring wine, an introduction to wine appreciation, a wine bottle stopper and a temperature collar.

It’s good value at $135.95 and the price includes GST, freight and insurance.

Bollinger Champagne in a Chocolate Leather Wine Bag

Father’s Day calls for a celebration and what better way to celebrate than with a bottle of Special Cuvee Bollinger, elegantly presented in a chocolate, leather wine bag.

Delivered with a gift card, a bottle of this Special Cuvee is the quintessential expression of the Bollinger style.

Wine and Bar Accessories, Cellaring Equipment

Winemaker’s Choice have a great selection of accessories so you can probably find the perfect Father’s Day gift amongst them.

Choose from bottle stoppers, wine barrels, bottle openers, wine travel sets, wine chillers – the list goes on. There is also a great range of cellaring equipment.

Intervino Gifts

Intervino have a selection of absolutely beautiful wine gifts so if you’re looking for something special for Father’s Day take a look at their range of wines, liqueurs and spirits.

In red wine, the astringency causes the dryness in the mouth, or the mouth puckering sensation, when drinking the wine. Astringency is more about feel or texture than it is about taste. The term “mouthfeel” is often used to describe the quality in a red wine. It can often be bitter and unpleasant.

The bitter, astringent characteristics in tannic red wines are softened when the wine is consumed with food. This is because of the behaviour of tannins. They bind to proteins and will bind to the proteins in food if present instead of just the tissues and saliva in the mouth. It gives a smoother taste to the wine.

Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz are generally tannic wines although it can depend on the wine itself. Pinot Noir is less tannic.

The classic pairing with tannic red wine is beef. Other meat dishes like roast lamb or pork which are fattier tend not to stand up to the tannins quite so well so it’s better to opt for a softer, less tannic to begin with such as Pinot Noir or maybe a dry white wine.

So which wines should you drink with hot or spicy food such as Indian or Thai?

With mild Indian curries try a crisp, fruity white such as a
sauvignon blanc.

Moderately hot Indian curries such as rogan josh are good with a soft, fruity red such as merlot.

Yoghurt based hot, spicy curries are best complemented by riesling.

With Thai curries white wine works better than red wine – a riesling or viognier is a good choice.

And my favourite pairing for most curries is a sparkling wine and in particular a sparkling red such as sparkling shiraz. The sweetness complements the spiciness.