The Wine Front is Australia’s oldest and most active review site. It keeps consumers ahead of the game by reviewing wines as they are released. It’s run by Campbell Mattinson, Gary Walsh and Mike Bennie.
2012 Streicker Bridgeland Block Syrah received a score of 93/100 from 'The Wine Front'
“The back label text, which isn’t long, uses the phrase “yada yada” four times, which is a pretty decent effort. Suggests, heaven forbid, we have a winery with a sense of humour on our hands.
The wine is good. Light-ish, but good. Savoury and peppery as much as fruity, a touch smoky and herbal, tannic but in an integrated way. The mid palate is a succulent place to settle into, and while it’s mostly red berried there’s a (welcome) hint of liquorice. It’s a lovely wine to drink. Fragrant. Pretty. Yada yada”.
Campbell Mattinson
Is the Editor/Publisher of The Wine Front and the Editor of James Halliday’s Wine Companion magazine. Until recently he was the SUNDAY Magazine wine columnist. He won the Best Australian Sports Writing Award in 1996, an Independent Young Writer of the Year Award in 1995, and the Wine Press Club Wine Communicator Award in both 2005 and 2007. He was the founding editor of Australian Sommelier Magazine.
In 2006 he released the book Wine Hunter: The Man Who Changed Australian Wine, a biography of the Hunter Valley winemaking legend Maurice O’Shea (published by Hachette Australia). The book won the NSW Wine Press Club Wine Communicator Award and was described by James Halliday as “one of the most remarkable wine books to ever come my way”. He’s also published Why the French Hate US: The Real Story of Australian Wine and The Big Red Wine Book (Hardie Grant, 2008, 2009, 2010).