| Ned Brooks is a bloody legend – whip smart drinks mind, general intellect, fun fella and you know, the caring type (just look at that baby). His experience and career spans from restaurant manager to sommelier, restaurateur through to wine importer and wholesaler. He worked for years at Movida in Melbourne, helped establish Movida in Sydney, was the co-owner of the brilliant Moon Park and Paper Bird restaurants, and has been the cornerstone of one of Australia’s most progressive wine distributors, High Hope Wines. The business was founded with producers like Ochota Barrels, Si Vintners and Brash Higgins, but has diversified to include the peerless distillers Empirical Spirits and a range of imports from the likes of Eric Texier, Andrea Calek and Forlorn Hope. Ned loves weird musical acts, art movies, bad beer and basketball. And he kind of looks like a bearded Tobey Maguire during his Spiderman movies period. The Ned Pack is a mixed six that brings together wines from Ned’s broader spectrum of producers. We’ve got Blanco, a tangy white blend from tearaway New Zealand (Nelson) producer Kindeli, a textural white by the name of Patsy from Central Victoria’s wunderkind Minim. The whites are followed by arguably one of Australia’s best rosés, Eastern Peake's Tache, and a medium weight, delicious red built for a light chill from the super-talented Owen Latta. To round things out, the quixotic duo of Brave New Wine chip in with their slurpy, carafe-and-tumbler, drink cold, red/white, light, fresh Small Town, and a medium weight, savoury Italian red from La Ginestra. Here. For. It. |
