Australian Wine | Giggly Grapes

What Wine Goes With Truffle: The Rule Nobody Explains

18/04/2025

Fresh black truffle on slate beside a glass of light red wine

Older Pinot Noir for black truffle, Nebbiolo or aged Chardonnay for white. Here is why truffle is an aroma problem, not a flavour one, plus one stocked Tasmanian pick.

What Is Port Wine? Sweetness, Styles and Why It Is So Strong

13/10/2024

A glass of tawny port beside blue cheese and walnuts on a slate board

Port is a sweet fortified red from the Douro Valley in Portugal. Here is why it is sweet, what the styles mean, whether French port exists, and why Australian port is now tawny.

Off-Dry Wine: What It Means and How Sweet It Is

04/10/2024

Three glasses of white wine in a row from pale to deep gold

Off-dry means 4 to 12 grams of sugar a litre. Here is the full sweetness scale in numbers, why off-dry often tastes dry, and why Extra Dry sparkling is sweeter than Brut.

What Is a Fifth Growth Wine? The 1855 Bordeaux Ranking Explained

04/10/2024

Three unlabelled Bordeaux bottles beside a glass of red wine on a timber table

A fifth growth is a Bordeaux château in the bottom band of the 1855 classification. There are 18, twelve of them in Pauillac, and the label says more about 1855 prices than today’s wine.

Chicken Shawarma Wine Pairing: Garlic, Pickles and Spice

03/10/2024

Chicken shawarma on flatbread with pickles beside a glass of rose wine

The chicken is the easy part. Garlic sauce, pickled turnip and the spice rub decide the bottle. Dry rose first, chilled Grenache second, plus one stocked pick.

Miso and Wine: What to Pour (and What to Avoid)

23/08/2024

Bowl of miso soup beside a glass of white wine on a timber table

Miso is salty, sweet and full of umami, which is hard on red wine. What to pour with miso soup, miso black cod and miso ramen, and the reds to keep off the table.

Pinot Gris vs Pinot Grigio: What Is the Difference?

22/08/2024

Two glasses of white wine of different depths of colour beside greyish pink grapes

Same grape, two names, two styles. Grigio is crisp and citrusy, Gris is fuller and rounder. How to tell which is in the bottle before you buy it.

Stroganoff and Wine: What to Pour (and What to Avoid)

25/07/2024

Pan of creamy stroganoff beside a glass of light red wine on a timber table

Sour cream and mushrooms run this dish, not the beef, and both punish tannin. Why Pinot Noir wins, what to avoid, and one bottle for both versions.

Best Cheese With Red Wine (and the Best Red for Each)

22/07/2024

Cheeseboard with aged cheeses and a glass of red wine

Red wine and cheese works about half the time. Here is which cheese to buy for the bottle you have opened, which reds fight back, and why tannin is the whole story.

Best Wine for Stuffed Mushrooms: What to Pour (and What to Avoid)

11/07/2024

Baked stuffed mushroom caps on a slate board beside a glass of light red wine

Pinot Noir most nights, lightly oaked Chardonnay when the filling is cheesy, and dry sparkling for a party tray. Here is why big reds fail with mushrooms.