05/23/2026
Just back from 2 weeks in Australia. My excellent importer, Beaune and Beyond, set up tastings, seminars and dinners in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney that were really well-run and well-received. Australia is not only full of open-minded, friendly wine loving people but these folks also KNOW wine. Unfortunately, the punitive layers of taxes makes Peay wines twice as expensive in Australia as stateside so, Americans, you are getting a bargain! And, Australia is undergoing the same shift in consumer taste that we are in the United States seeking more freshness and more typicity in their wines. This is good news for everyone! Will return again soon.
1: Jet lagged upon arrival, ate at the groovy and a touch naturalistic Embla in Melbourne. Cool wood burning metal oven.
2: New Korean beef and broth spot in Melbourne.
3 & 4: Trade seminar in Melbourne
5 & 6: Jazz hands. Staff training at Cru in Brisbane
7: Brisbane Hotel. Feels like west side of LA.
8: I discovered I like Margaret River Chardonnay. Many winemakers grow the Wente selection too (called GinGin clone in SWA)
9: Consumer dinner at Brisbane’s Cru restaurant. excellent shop and enthusiastic, open-minded attendees. The older wines made an impression.
10: Wine Tasting with PJ Charteris of Charteris Wines at Thomas Winery in The Hunter Valley.
11: That’s PJ standing above the edge of the oldest Aussie growing region, the Hunter Valley. Not a wide flat valley.
12: sunrise in Sydney
13: haven’t seen troughs since my college days. IYKYK
14: The amazing Grape Garden Dumpling House in Sydney. Handmade noodles to die for.
15 & 16: Saint Peters in Sydney. Bindi’s side by side pairing btg and this yummy bite of Tuna tartare
17: Personal discovery: Aussie Grenache. Perfumed and delish. Ok, Andy Chabot, I see you...
18: Pork Belly lettuce tacos at the delicious King Clarence in Sydney
19: Aussie grenache to seek out