Posts by bradley hickey
Flyin’ the Flannel in the Pacific Northwest
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 the 90’s US alternative band…
Read MoreThe Bloody Kokoda Track-Papua New Guinea
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 and got my dander up…
Read MoreGetting Site Specific in South Africa
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 like tentacles breathtakingly into the…
Read MoreThe Frenchies and Kangaroo Island
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, however. Marion is the step…
Read MoreA Range Life in the Antipodes
For those of you who have followed the “Wine Odyssey” since the beginning, this is a post that I’d been thinking about writing the last few weeks. So much has happened over the last 2.5 years that it’s overwhelmed me. Much has changed since I travelled to South Australia 2 years ago to work a…
Read MorePassing Through Pauillac and Margaux
The left bank of Bordeaux’s famous wine communes of Pauillac and Margaux are flat and pretty uneventful, save the impressive chateaus set back along the highway and the goods within them. Unfortunately, appointments are necessary to visit these top cellars, or “chais”, as they are called. I only had an hour to spare and getting…
Read MoreSaint-Emilion Under Winter Skies
One of the best looking medieval villages in France also makes some of its most delicious wines. Saint Emilion sits on the shoulders of the Northeastern perimeter of Bordeaux. Any sane driver should think twice about even driving OUTSIDE its walls or prepare to pay for a new side mirror or two. This little hillside…
Read MoreA “Grand Moment” At Pierre Gagnaire
Before there was Heston Blumenthal, there was Pierre Gagnaire. The “enfant-terrible” of French cooking has kept pace with the molecular gastronomy boys by running a restaurant facing the future, but respectful of the past. We recently ate there with close friends of mine from the early Paris days. We had all come a long way…
Read MoreThe Fat Duck: Pleasure, the Brain, and Food
One of the highlights of my recent trip to England was a meal at The Fat Duck outside London in the tiny hamlet of Bray. Considered one of the top restaurants in the world, the Duck not only lived up to its reputation, it exceeded it. Chef and owner Heston Blumenthal has created truly unusual…
Read MoreIn Bordeaux With Ermitage
After a good visit to NYC, I flew to France for the Vinitech wine supply show in Bordeaux. As a guest of Tonnellerie Ermitage, I was able to meet a lot of winemakers over the three day event who used and liked the Ermitage oak barrels. At our booth we also set up a temporary…
Read MoreNYC Loves Brash Higgins
I’m in NYC for the month of November showing the Tasmanian and NZ wines in my portfolio to my friends in the restaurant scene here. Nice time to be here, right after the economy has hit the schnitzel. Needless to say, it’s still a good time to visit. The tourists and mosquitos have left for…
Read MoreWhite Pepper Magic in Hawke’s Bay
I’ve been drinking syrah, or shiraz as it’s known in Australia, for at least 20 years now. This red wine grape takes on different qualities depending on where it’s grown. The Australian version typically is rich and full of dark berry fruit. The French version, where it reigns supreme in the Northern Rhone, has more…
Read MoreFarewell, Sweet Wharekauhau, Sheep’s Paradise
There are magical places in this world that haunt you. 5 years ago as a neophyte sommelier in David Bouley’s chaotic world, I met 2 guests who spoke well of New Zealand. It was a great table, one where a lot of priceless info was exchanged. We are still in touch today. They turned me…
Read MoreTerraVin Tears Up Auckland
I first met Mike Eaton of TerraVin after drinking his 2004 Hillside Selection Pinot Noir at Gibbs Restaurant in Marlborough. Silky, aromatic, generous, yet balanced are words that spring to mind as I recall witnessing the wine blossom in the glass alongside a fantastic meal. The next morning I called Mike for the first time…
Read MoreWaipara, New Zealand
Just north of Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island is an up and coming wine region called Waipara. Pegasus Bay has been shaping delicious pinot noir and riesling from this district for years, and now, finally, the rest of the world is starting to take notice. Waipara is overshadowed by Marlborough to the north and…
Read MoreEye on Tasmania
I’m back from a brief hiatus. I went back down to Tasmania recently to visit two winemakers I’m exporting into the USA for AOC Fine Wines/SObER Imports: Guy Wagner of Bass Fine Wines and Brian Franklin of Apsley Gorge. As usual, it was quite chilly and the search for fireplaces was on again. Guy Wagner,…
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