DRINK > WINE DRINK > WINE > Cabernet Sauvignon

WINE > Petaluma Coonawarra – Evans Vineyard 1985

Recently I had the opportunity to collect a few vintage magnums of the classic Petaluma Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon Merlo blend, I was interested to see how well the wine was holding up especially in at the magnum format - I always recall some years back wine writer Phillip Rich saying to me "wine always tastes…

ByAl ManakMay 15, 20230Comments

CARS

DRIVE > IONIQ 6

Hang on are you really writing a review about a Hyundai car? How did that happen? Well, it may have sneaked up on you but Hyundai have gone from being a low cost entry level vehicle to high performing, fully featured brand offering quality motor vehicles. Yep sure I get…

ByAl ManakMay 13, 20230Comments

DRINK > WINE DRINK > WINE > Merlot

WINE > Paternoster ‘Heaven’s Door’ Merlot 2001

Ferreting around in the cellar and looking for a nice bottle to share with my father I found a bottle of Paternoster ‘Heaven’s Door Merlot’ sitting on a bottom shelf, it was a 2001 vintage. I vaguely remembered buying the wine from Cloud Wine in South Melbourne after one of Geoffrey’s wine tasting…

ByCrispyMay 12, 20230Comments

DRINK > WINE DRINK > WINE > Pinot Noir

WINE > Irrewarra Pinot Noir 2020

The Irrewarra Pinot Noir comes from grapes dry grown on a plot of land planted in 2001 by the Calvert family, in the Western Plains of Victoria. This wine made Nick Farr now also wine maker for ByFarr Wines. Nick Farr readily acknowledges the influence of his father (the legendary Gary Farr who established…

ByCrispyMay 10, 20230Comments

EAT EAT > MELBOURNE

EAT > Trattoria Emilia (Melbourne)

Hidden away in a laneway, off another laneway you find Trattoria Emilia a traditional Italian restaurant that makes you feel warm and alive the moment you enter. The restaurant is in Gills Alley, the location formerly home to another fine Melbourne restaurant Gills Diner. It is a wonderful space with high…

ByAl ManakMay 10, 20230Comments

RIDE RIDE > BIKES

RIDE > Vello Sub – World’s Lightest E-Cargo Bike

Cargo bikes are a bit like a pack horse, they are not designed to go fast, rather they are designed to efficiently help the rider carry a significant load. By their nature they are heavy, stable and fairly slow, but all that changes with the new 'SUB' an E-Cargo bike from VELLO. Vello is…

ByAl ManakMay 9, 20230Comments

CARS

DRIVE > The Most Beautiful Car In The World Electrified

The Jaguar E-Type is so very super stylish, so much so that Enzo Ferrari described it as "the most beautiful car in the world". And now thanks to innovators like Electrogenic in the UK you can drive an electric conversion that transforms beauty into a future proof masterpiece. …

ByAl ManakMay 8, 20230Comments

DRINK > WINE DRINK > WINE > Pinot Noir

WINE > Paradox Pinot Noir – Zero Alcohol (NV) 60/100 Points

Recently I heard from friends and colleagues that the quality of alcohol free wine had dramatically improved. Given I had set the challenge to my wonderful wife that we attempt to get through a dry May (well mostly dry), it seems that now is an excellent opportunity for us to face the challenge. So we…

ByAl ManakMay 8, 20230Comments

CARS DESIGN

DRIVE > Ineos Grenadier

Land Rover Defender The Ineos Grenadier features the marketing line “built on purpose” and that is exactly what you get with this new entry to the four wheel drive all terrain workhorse car market. If you are not aware of the back story of how in 2017 billionaire Jim Ratcliffe CEO of Ineos (a…

ByCrispyMay 5, 20230Comments

EAT EAT > MELBOURNE

EAT > Ishizuka (Melbourne)

It's not easy to find Ishizuka, there are few discreet signs near the street entrance, leading down a narrow lane, to a door and what looks like an apartment complex lift lobby. Take the lift to the basement and you are ushered into a very special room where you are elevated to one…

ByCrispyMay 3, 20230Comments