The Full Bottle
Three white wines you should be drinking right now
An early-autumn white should be light and dry, fruit-accented, unwooded and, above all, refreshing.
- Huon Hooke
Latest
Are you a rosé fan? Here are three wines to buy, depending on how you like it
Plus a simple tip for adjusting a rosé that is too sweet for your taste.
- Huon Hooke
If a bottle label says ‘drink now or cellar for 5-10 years’, when is the wine really at its best?
The idea that all wine improves with age is a popular myth, writes Huon Hooke.
- Huon Hooke
The one thing that can ruin your most prized bottle of wine
Bottle variation is a reality, but it’s misnamed. Our impression of wine varies according to what else is going on around us.
- Huon Hooke
Glass wine bottles are so yesterday. But are the new alternatives any good?
There’s an environmental revolution happening in wine packaging.
- Huon Hooke
Are wines with leaked corks still drinkable?
Wine that’s been kept too long in a hot place is one of the most depressing sights.
- Huon Hooke
Why don’t French bottles list the grape variety on the label, as Australian wines do?
In most premium French regions, the place where the grapes were grown was always considered more important than the cépage.
- Huon Hooke
Why do our local rieslings taste dry and sour when compared to German wines?
The dryness and high acidity of Australian rieslings is the main reason they have never been widely loved by the wine-drinking public, writes Huon Hooke.
- Huon Hooke
Why do wines from this particular US region taste unlike anything else?
You can still fine “foxy” non-vinifera wines, although they’re rare and out of fashion.
- Huon Hooke
Why do we call white wine ‘white’ when it’s not?
“Blanc” in French, “bianco” in Italian, “blanco” in Spanish. It’s the universal word for wine that’s not red, pink or amber.
- Huon Hooke