The Real Review

Nestled on the slopes of Gibbston Valley is a meticulously-tended small organic vineyard and boutique winery on Coal Pit Road—unsurprisingly, the wine made here is called Coal Pit Wine.

Read the full article by Stephen Wong MW: https://www.therealreview.com/2026/08/20/coal-pit-wines-subregional-expressions/

Top Drops. For more weekly wine picks, visit: https://www.therealreview.com/category/top-drops/

Best’s of Great Western has published a detailed explanation and description of what it is that makes Great Western shiraz different and distinctive.

Read the full article by Huon Hooke: https://www.therealreview.com/2026/08/19/great-westerns-cool-shirazes/

Julian Castagna is very much his own man. A true individual, with his own ideas and his own very high standards.
https://www.therealreview.com/2026/08/18/castagna-individual-and-distinctive

Castagna: individual and distinctive Julian Castagna is very much his own man. A true individual, with his own ideas and his own very high standards.

Julian Castagna is very much his own man. A true individual, with his own ideas and his own very high standards.

Read the full article by Huon Hooke: https://www.therealreview.com/2026/08/18/castagna-individual-and-distinctive/

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Identifying vineyard names is not a new thing in Aotearoa, the practice dates back several decades – from 1982 to 1988, Te Mata's Coleraine came from the Coleraine Vineyard in the Havelock Hills opposite the winery.
https://www.therealreview.com/2026/08/17/notable-names-rise-of-the-grower-vineyard-and-calverts-contribution

Notable Names: rise of the grower vineyard (and Calvert’s... Identifying vineyard names is not a new thing in Aotearoa, the practice dates back several decades – from 1982 to 1988, Te Mata's Coleraine came from the Coleraine Vineyard in the Havelock Hills opposite the winery.

NSW wines should be available in publicly owned NSW institutions such as the Art Gallery of NSW and the Museum of History, you would think. But they are not at least not fairly.

Read the full article by Huon Hooke: https://www.therealreview.com/2026/08/17/nsw-wines-not-fairly-represented-at-nsw-institutions/

The very act of naming these vineyards on wine labels lends them authority: what is this vineyard which is so special as to be named?

Read the full article by Stephen Wong MW: https://www.therealreview.com/2026/08/17/notable-names-rise-of-the-grower-vineyard-and-calverts-contribution/

NSW wines should be available in publicly owned NSW institutions such as the Art Gallery of NSW and the Museum of History, you would think. But they are not—at least not represented fairly.
https://www.therealreview.com/2026/08/17/nsw-wines-not-fairly-represented-at-nsw-institutions

NSW wines not fairly represented at NSW institutions NSW wines should be available in publicly owned NSW institutions such as the Art Gallery of NSW and the Museum of History, you would think. But they are not—at least not represented fairly.