The storm clouds they gathered and as a grape grower, it was white knuckle time again for Brash Higgins Wine Co. So much of the harvest is out of the grower’s control; the weather, disease, insects and birds clearly have a mind of their own. On the heels of a…
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by Brash Higgins We’ve been preparing our vineyard to harvest our very first crop of the red wine grape Nero d’Avola. Indigenous to Sicily, where it is well suited for a hot, dry climate like our own in McLaren Vale, we grafted the Nero vines over to a shiraz block…
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We’ve been preparing our vineyard to harvest our very first crop of the red wine grape Nero d’Avola. It’s a new variety to Australia and I’m going to put it under a new label I’ve been working on, which shall remain a secret for a little while longer. As a…
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I caught a last minute flight to Kuala Lumpur (KL) over New Years. It was my first time there, and I was surprised at how sprawling it is. Completely different feel from Singapore, it's less cultured cousin to the South. The reason I can say that is because KL pulses…
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I had the pleasure to spend a day out on the Spencer Gulf for the first time fishing for Pagrus auratus, or Australasian Red Snapper. Aussie Red Snapper is not related to the Red Snapper fished in the Gulf of Mexico (Lutjanus campechanus), but it is a highly prized fish…
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At this time of the year things once again get confusing. It’s harvest time for the grapes in McLaren Vale, and the Northern Hemisphere is buried in snow. The Winter Olympics are underway and rather than jumping over slushy puddles in NYC, as I would normally be doing, I’m enjoying…
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Driving a car up from San Francisco to Vancouver, BC is a chance to see and eat some amazing things. Recently on a Thorpe Wine sales blitz thru the Pacific Northwest, I had a chance to revisit some favorite places and friends. “Flyin’ the Flannel“, an album and song from…
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Sometimes I even surprise myself. Last year after a long dinner involving much food and wine in a comfortable restaurant, I agreed to hike the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea. At the time I was responding to the challenge of an Australian friend who clearly knew more than me…
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There are few wine regions in the world that can rival South Africa’s natural beauty. The Groot Drakenstein Mountains, for example, are equally as picturesque as the Dolomites in Italy, and they set the dramatic scene as backdrops for the Cape winelands, and along the southern coast other mountains splay…
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I’ve been moving around Oz a lot lately; finally checking out some areas I’ve neglected. On a trip to Melbourne to visit my distributor, I decided to drive the Great Ocean Road from Adelaide with the two French backpackers staying with us, Quentin and Marion. These weren’t just any backpackers,…
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