Keeping a watchful eye over his member's prized bottles, Wine Ark chief executive Dean Taylor. Penfolds Grange has topped the list of most collected wines in the country. One of Australia's largest wine cellaring companies Wine Ark has reviewed more than 3 million bottles stored by its members and come up with a list of the top 50 wines Australians love to keep. Awards were given for the most popular wine of each varietal.

There's always been a fond relationship between the legal profession and the grape. Whether as a lubricant for client/firm relations, relief from work stress or an all-consuming hobby, wine holds an irresistible lure for lawyers. Just think of fiction's most famous barrister, Horace Rumpole, propping up Pommeroy's bar while sipping his beloved "Chateau Fleet Street", a cheap wine as dubious in character as the scoundrels he loves to defend.

Penfolds, whose flagship wine is ultra–premium Grange, is the most popular brand among Australian fine wine collectors, one of the country's largest wine storage companies claims.

If you're serious about drinking wine, chances are you're serious about cellaring it too. And if you're serious about storing it, you'll know that under the stairs isn't the best place for your precious collection.

According to a survey run by Australian market intelligence business Food and Wine Insights, women wine drinkers are drinking less, drinking more at home and spending less per bottle at wine retailers and restaurants than men since the global financial crisis (GFC) began.

There's never been a better time to keep reds under the bed or in a cellar, writes Peter Bourne. Ever wanted your own wine cellar? I don't mean ripping up the kitchen floor. A wine cellar can mean a few cases of red kept under the bed for a couple of years. In that time it will begin to undergo the magical evolution from youthful awkwardness to mellow maturity.

Australian beer consumption has dropped to a 60-year-low, official figures show. Supermarkets are marking up alcohol by as much as 50 percent in their own-brand liquor stores to capitalise on captive grocery shoppers.

ONE of nature's cruel ironies is that, right when this year's brightest, freshest pupils are released into the world, most of us don't want to know about them. I'm talking about rieslings, by the way. Fresh, zippy, citrus tree floral and lemon and lime juicy drops from the 2010 vintage are making their way to our wine lists or store shelves. So far, many of the ones I've tasted are smart, keen to impress, perhaps a little naive but mostly pure and beautiful.

Ascend into the small towns huddled around the towering Mount Macedon such as Woodend or Kyneton, which are located an hour North-West of Melbourne, and you can’t fail to miss the faintly Northern European feel of the place. Perhaps it is the crisp bite of a cool Spring day, the historical streetscapes or even the patches of greenery from recent Winter rains but this is a very unique and beautiful landscape; not just in geography but also the climate that envelops it.

When it comes to matching wines with food, there are no hard and fast rules. The best way to learn what works and what doesn’t is to try out different combinations. That’s all very well when you have time on your side and several bottles lined up at a relaxed weekend dinner party, but not so helpful at a business lunch when the wine list is in your hands.