WhiskyWineSake Journals

That dry, furry feeling after a sip of red isn't a taste, and it isn't the same thing as a wine being dry. Here's what's really going on, and why the fourth sip grips harder than the first.

The old rule says never cook with a wine you wouldn't drink. It's half right, and the half that's wrong costs you money. What heat actually does to wine, why the alcohol doesn't burn off, and the bottle restaurant kitchens reach for instead.

Junmai, ginjo, daiginjo, nigori: what the sake grades actually mean, which style suits you, and the bottles worth buying in Australia at every price, from everyday junmai to Dassai 23.

Albarino, Fiano, Vermentino, Barbera and Nero d'Avola are going into Hunter Valley soil. Why Mediterranean grapes suit Australia's most difficult wine region, who is planting them, and the identity mix-up sitting behind the front runner.

Prosecco gets treated like Champagne that didn't make the cut. It isn't. Different grape, different method, different job. What the label actually means, why expensive prosecco is usually the wrong buy, and how half this story ended up in Victoria.

