We love eating and drinking, so don’t be surprised to find most of our stories on this page! From restaurants and cafes to home-cooked meals; from slick bars and underground drinking holes to that perfect martini at the bar of Casa de Romance – we talk about it all!
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
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
Ever poured a glass of wine and thought it tasted too dry or tannic, or that there just wasn’t that much flavour to it? There’s a good chance it needed aerating. Here are 3 ways to aerate wine and what it all means too. Aerating wine is the process of introducing a large amount of … Read more
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
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
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
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
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
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
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