Nik Darlington of Pip wines set out to show us that times had changed: grapes were now grown with care in cool areas (for Australia) and their juice was being turned into wine with sensitivity and the careful use of oak. Over the course of an interesting and very enjoyable presentation in which he showed four white and four red wines, he more than made his point and convinced us that the best Australian wines had improved beyond measure over the recent years. He also, as the images show, demonstrated that Australia is a very beautiful place to have a vineyard.

Nik Darlington made a welcome repeat visit to the Club on 27 February, bringing with him his personal selection from the Red Squirrel list. Nik has had a varied career, a political reporter, business consultant, scuba diving instructor and now wine merchant. He is driven by the determination not to allow the invading ‘grey squirrels’ (the standard ‘international’ grapes) to spread their tentacles and drive out the regional grapes that still cling to a spot in the world’s vineyard areas.

Rare and Native Grape Varieties and Forgotten Wine Regions

A small but select and happy band of OWC members gathered in Oxford Brookes Restaurant on a warm summer’s evening to enjoy a grouping of four white and four red wines from unusual grape varieties and regions.

An entertaining and committed speaker, Nik Darlington set up the online retailer Red Squirrel Wines just three years ago after a career as a political journalist. Red Squirrel offers alternative or native grape varieties, as a counter to what Nik perceives as the dominance of international grape varieties and the rise of monoculture and a lack of biodiversity.