The Auswine Forum

So does anyone know when it launches / received their copy yet?

Cheers - Nick

Thought it had but havent' received one yet.

Was supposed to be out 10 October I think?

I received mine on Tuesday. I haven't gone through it in detail, but it seems like good, varied content. Production not as slick as, say, GT Wine magazine, but that is not a surprise.

Thanks for the update - I'll give them another week before chasing.

Rednick wrote:Thanks for the update - I'll give them another week before chasing.

Still waiting for mine too.

.

Me too!

Hope it's worth the wait.

Got mine. Looks ok. Balanced between wine/food/travel as the title says. Sort of recycled matte stock paper which gives it a more laid back feel. Layout is a bit everything but the kitchen sink, which lends itself to a quick read here, quick read there, lots of short articles etc. It's like the idea was to get Gourmet Wine/Traveller/Food all rolled into one easy to read magazine.

6 issues for $35, I'll probably subscribe.

Mine arrived midweek. I've dipped in and out a couple of times and I have to say I'm not impressed overall - frankly the word that best sums it up for mine is "pedestrian".

A few comments:
- The format is very, very similar to GT Wine (comment/news at the front, a couple of features in the middle, tasting notes/advertorial travel stuff at the back). Which is fine - it's how most mags are set up - but I'd say if you're going to take on a tried and tested format with something very similar you need to offer a clear win on content. Which I don't think this does, sad to say.
- The editorial tone seems to be pitched a level below GT Wine, in other words at a slightly more mass audience. One example: the main buying feature in GT Wine this issue is age-worthy selections for cellaring. In the Halliday mag it's Rose (and the suggested wines are hardly revelatory: Rose of Virginia, Teusner, Turkey Flat, Jacob's Creek etc - good wines but if you own one Halliday guide you aren't going to need to be recommended these wines). Halliday's own column is a kind of beginners' guide to drinking windows. My hunch is that they're aiming for a readership that wants more wine info that 'normal' Gourmet Traveller but is intimidated by GT Wine. Again this is fine but it's not really something I need (and actually I'm not sure if they do a very good job of it - a lot of the content in the Halliday mag reads to me like an in-flight magazine).
- There's a lot of non-wine content in the Halliday mag. Big chunks are given over to food, beer, 'personality' interview stuff and other lifestyle accessories (quasi-advertorial for coffee machines and so forth - again very in-flight mag).

My overall feeling is that it's a middle class lifestyle mag masquerading as a wine mag. I don't know whether the publisher always intended to go down this route or whether they just lost their nerve about doing a fully wine-focused publication but either way that's how it's ended up. Actually I'm left feeling puzzled about the use of the Halliday name/brand altogether: I guess it might draw in a few people just starting out on wine enthusiasm but it's got little to hold the interest of real nerds. I guess it's meant to appeal to the SUV and latte crowd: he buys the Wine Companion once a year and likes to be a wine bore at dinner parties, she likes buying stuff and looking at pictures of meals (please note - I'm doing wild demographic generalisations here in an attempt to describe what I suspect the target audience is rather than because I am a massive bigot - honest).

What's disappointing for me is that I'd love to see a wine mag that did a bit more with the joy of wine and a bit less of the generic, bland lifestyle stuff. What about travel articles that aren't just lists of hotels and wineries visited but travellogues of wild nights in Buenos Aires and San Francisco? Not so many staid recipes and more dinners with interesting vinophiles?

So there you go: 2c worth and no more.

Received mine today. Cant wait to get home and give it a crack.

Still waiting for mine to turn up here in Perth...

Got a freeby copy with my month's order of vino. Haven't read through much yet but seems pretty good. Slick production and layout that's for sure.

Agree with the in-flight mag comparison. I think it certainly is not aimed at people who know a bit about wine and/or read books on wine. The Rose article was a case in point. No new information there.

The article on cellaring by JH - perhaps a bit of new info.

I appreciated the articles on JH himself and Sparkling Shiraz (but I am biased towards splurgundy and love to see it get a run). Campbell Mattinson writes well. Still not a lot of new info.

The travel/food stuff doesn't interest me a lot.

And I am not sure I can read another article on the emergence of craft beers.

The most interesting part was the "for & against" section about biodynamics, wich mirrored the discussion had recently at the Turkey Flat dinner here in Brisbane. I just wish they had given Roger a bit more space for a rant. Sounded like he could have really cut loose!

As it came free with the free sub to the JH site that came with the Companion that I buy each year, I am happy to have it. Probably will subscribe when the freebie runs out.

Cheers

Michael

With the greatest respect to the great man, I think he is trying to get blood out of a stone, or top up the super, not that he would have to worry about that.
With an annual guide, a website, other book(s) in the works and columns in the weekend Oz and GT, there is only so many wines that can actually be reviewed, that JO, Wine-front, Huon and others have not looked at already.

I notice that JH is reviewing more international wines, hence the comment above.
My local newsagent has had a stack of the first editions sitting in his shop without selling too many, he suspects that the covers will be torn off for credits and the rest binned.
Let me guess, Stuart McGill will call up his old mate Matty Hayden, and there will be a FNQ feature with a few fish recipes, in the next issue.

Cheers Craig.