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Let them eat cake (and drink dessert wine)…

In my alternative dream life, I would be a Master Baker.  I would have a cake shop and spend my days happily baking perfect cakes, pastries and pies.  Although real life is a far cry from that, I do manage to bake the odd cake or two and so I am loving the Great British [...]

Dedicated Followers of Fashion

Like the ebb and flow of the tide, many things in life come in and go out of fashion.  I remember being very proud of a pair of cycling shorts with a fluorescent pink stripe down the side; teamed with a fluorescent pink crop top and a pair of baseball boots I thought I looked [...]

Valentine Free Zone…!

Call me a cynic, but I’m not one for Valentine’s Day.  Now this may be because this year, unless a modern day equivalent of a knight on a white steed should happen across my path between now and the 14th, neither my postman nor Interflora is going to be  knocking at my door. However, even [...]

Burgundy 2009: A Gift From Nature

Following an intensive (but thoroughly enjoyable) tasting trip to Burgundy by the team from our en primeur specialist Lay & Wheeler we are very pleased to report that along with the rest of France, Burgundy had a wonderful 2009. Dry, warm weather in August and September resulted in exceptional wines that should not be missed. [...]

A Voyage of Re-Discovery

As our sojourn in Australia drew to a close, despite what the laws of physics may say, I’m sure time seemed to speed up, and before we knew it the James Busby Travel tour had drawn to a close. But let’s rewind a bit.  The final two days were as packed as any other, palate [...]

Full Circle

I was especially looking forward to the Riesling Masterclass that was held at Paulett’s winery in Polish Hill River in the Clare Valley. It was a bottle of Paulett’s Rielsling that I had tweeted about that won me my place on this phenomenal trip. As I later found out, Tim Wildman, MW, Director of James [...]

Squids In

An early morning wake up call, a few hardy souls and I were heading out at the crack of dawn to go squid fishing in McLaren Vale. To be honest, I never thought I would be leaving the comfort of my warm bed at 5.30am of my own free will to go and sit in [...]

Victorious Vineyards

Our first day in McLaren Vale we headed to The Blessed Cheese for a flat white, which we are all slowly becoming addicted to, from there we were met by Mike Brown of Gem Tree who gave up an hour of his morning to give us an overview of the region. A warm climate means [...]

The Best Laid Plans…

The beginning of our second week in Australia. We said goodbye Victoria, hello South Australia, slightly hopeful that the weather would be warmer here. Our bus driver Wayne breathed a sigh of relief as we were back in his home territory. Our plans for today were to leave Dunkeld, get a couple of hours driving [...]

Last day in Victoria

Best’s Winery in Great Western, a sub region of the Grampians GI was founded in 1866 by Henry Best. Amidst Gold Rush territory, the winery remained in the Best family until Henry’s death in the 1920′s, at which point it was bought by the Thomson family. Now in the hands of 4th generation Viv and [...]

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