10 Ways to Get into The Spirits of Christmas

Anyone who thinks the spirit of Christmas is dead hasn’t seen our gift ideas of gins, whiskies, vodkas and accessories this year – not to mention a couple of excellent cocktails that’ll get you in festive mood! Buying a bottle of spirits as a Christmas gift used to feel like a bit of a cop-out, … Read more

Hint Magazine 2021 – what we all want for Christmas

Hint Magazine Christmas gift guide 2021 - the ultimate Christmas gift guide

Unsure about what to get your significant other for Christmas this year? Hint Magazine – our Christmas gift guide – is here to inspire! Free to download or view here in your browser, there’s a multitude of brilliant prezzie ideas within its virtual pages. I think we can all agree 2021 was another nightmare year. … Read more

5 iconic Hunter Valley Chardonnays you must try

Hunter Valley Chardonnay

Chardonnay has seen quite a few twists and turns in its popularity over the last few decades, but at last it’s coming into its own. Here are 5 Chardonnays from the Hunter Valley, NSW that embody this magnificent varietal and show its sceptics exactly what they’ve all been missing. Australia’s oldest wine region and only … Read more

Wine of the Month: Grenache – the wine connoisseur’s secret weapon

5 Grenache for World Grenache Day

Peeping out from behind its bigger, beefier brothers, Grenache is the wallflower of wine varietals in Australia that doesn’t get half the attention it deserves. Here are five examples of Grenache you’ve got to try. Wine experts have (of course) known about Grenache’s virtues for ages, but they seem to have kept this card in … Read more

Meet Richard Done of John Wallace Wines – the Hunter Valley’s new kid on the block

Richard Done John Wallace Wines Hunter Valley

Recipient of the Hunter Valley Rising Star and Young Gun of Wine awards, and with names on his CV like Scarborough Wines, Thomas Wines, Hunter’s Dream Estate and currently Bimbadgen, it was only a matter of time before Richard Done started his own label. The Hunter Valley is Australia’s oldest wine region, where grapes grow … Read more

Can you age Riesling and what is a vertical tasting? Museum releases from Howard Park Wines, WA

Vertical wine tasting - Howard Park Riesling Western Australia

Crisp, lively, flinty and refreshing. That and a funny shaped bottle is what comes to mind when you think of Riesling. But what happens when you lay one down for a few years? Our best answer: you need a vertical tasting! When it comes to ageing wines, stashing them in some subterranean den to gather … Read more

3 warm cocktails for chilly evenings

Warm cocktails for chilly evenings

When we think of cocktails, we usually have chilled drinks, ice spheres and frosted glasses in mind. But cocktails can be hot too. Perfect for cool nights, these three hot drinks will keep you warm. Hot toddy with Aberfeldy 12yo scotch You might think of hot toddies as only being remedies for colds, but for … Read more

Life on the Farm at a Hatted Hunter Winery – Margan Wines in Broke, NSW

Margan Wines - market garden, hatted restaurant, Hunter Valley Winery

From farm to table in under 100 metres. That’s how Margan Wines runs their hatted restaurant. Here’s more about this beautiful Hunter Valley winery – its wines, its chefs, its food and its philosophy. I wonder which came first. Have Australia’s wine regions always been beautiful or do the vineyards create their own beauty? Perhaps … Read more

5 gins to mix up your old negroni

Negroni cocktail gin

These five gins not only add something different to the classic negroni cocktail, they elevate it to new heights. Switch out your usual juniper juice for one of these masterpieces and see how your negroni transforms. With cocktails, there’s a golden rule of three that most great drinks follow: spirit, sweet and bitter. Together these … Read more