Tasmania

Wine region
Country	Australia
Precipitation (annual average)	27 inches (680 mm)
Soil conditions	Clay
Size of planted vineyards	1,289 acres (5.22 km2)
No. of vineyards	112+
Grapes produced	Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Riesling
No. of wineries	nearly 200
Wine produced	Still, dessert wine, sparkling wine

Tasmanian wine is produced in the Australian state of Tasmania. Located at a more southerly latitude than the rest of Australia's wine regions, Tasmania has a cooler climate and the potential to make distinctly different wines than in the rest of the country. The area grows primarily Pinot noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc, with some smaller plantings of Riesling, Pinot Gris and Cabernet Sauvignon. Global warming has had positive effects on the Tasmanian wine industry, allowing most of the grapes in the past few vintages (as of 2005) to ripen fully and produce more vibrant wine.^[1]

History[link]

Tasmania was one of the earliest regions in Australia to be planted with vines and was even the source of cuttings for the first vineyards in Victoria and South Australia. It was also home to some of the earliest wines to gain attention outside of the county with a fortified dessert wine by Bartholomew Broughton being praised by one English writer as Australia's equivalent to Port.^[2]

Climate and geography[link]

Being an island, Tasmania has a temperate climate that is marked by the strong winds of the Indian Ocean, Bass Strait and Tasman Sea. These winds necessitate the use of large screens around the perimeter of vineyards in order to protect the grapevines. The cool climate of the regions gives way to a late harvest typically around April. The effects of global warming have caused the area's grapes to progressively ripen slightly earlier which has allowed most of the recent vintages to be successful.^[1] It has opened up the prospects of increasing red wine production with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz.^[3]

Wine regions[link]

The Freycinet Peninsula has shown itself to be one of the more promising areas for Tasmanian red wine production.

The majority of Tasmania's vineyard are located near the cities of Launceston in the north and Hobart in the south. Most of the area of Tasmania is well suited for the production of dry, aromatic white wines but the warmer Coal River Valley and Freycinet Peninsula are starting to distinguish themselves with red wines.^[4]

• North West - south of Devonport
• Tamar Valley - along the valley north of Launceston
• Pipers River - on the Georgetown to Bridport road.
• East Coast - between Bicheno in the north, and east of Sorell
• Coal River - between Cambridge and north of Colebrook.
• Derwent Valley - between Hamilton and Hobart
• Southern - between Kingston and Southport

Wines[link]

The region's cool climate has made Tasmania a good location for the production of sparkling wine with many of Australia's mainland producers having production facilities on the island to make the base cuvée that is later transported to the winery's main facility. Even some French Champagne houses have taken notice with companies like Moët et Chandon and Louis Roederer using some Tasmanian grapes for the Australian sparkling wines. Tasmanian Rieslings have begun to gain notice for their closer similarities to a Mosel Riesling than that which is typically produced in Australia.^[1]

Tasmanian wines are noted for their naturally high acidity and good balance of fruit flavor that tend to age well. Due to the tendency of some grapes to not fully ripen, Tasmanian wine makers have petitioned the government to make exceptions for them in the country wide ban on chaptalization so that they can increase the alcohol level of some of their weaker red wines. As of 2007, there has been no action on this issue.^[4]

See also[link]

• Australian wine

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Laing, Phil. (2003) Tasmanian wines Sandy Bay, Tas. : Laingvin Basket Press. ISBN 0-9581439-0-0

• Wine Industry fact sheet

External links[link]

• Wine Tasmania
• Tasmanian Wine Available in the UK

Stuart MacGill

Personal information
Full name	Stuart Charles Glyndwr MacGill
Born	(1971-02-25) 25 February 1971 (age 41) Mount Lawley, Perth, Australia
Nickname	Magilla (Gorilla) / Stuey / Macca
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm leg spin
Relations	CWT MacGill (grandfather), TMD MacGill (father)
International information
National side	Australia
Test debut (cap 374)	30 January 1998 v South Africa
Last Test	30 May 2008 v West Indies
ODI debut (cap 141)	19 January 2000 v Pakistan
Last ODI	26 January 2000 v India
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1994	Western Australia
1996–2008	New South Wales
1997	Somerset
2002–04	Nottinghamshire
2011-Present	Sydney Sixers
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	44	3	184	107
Runs scored	349	1	1,536	171
Batting average	9.69	1.00	9.90	7.77
100s/50s	0/0	0/0	0/2	0/0
Top score	43	1	56*	26
Balls bowled	11,237	180	41,418	5,228
Wickets	208	6	774	193
Bowling average	29.02	17.50	30.48	22.52
5 wickets in innings	12	0	43	4
10 wickets in match	2	n/a	6	n/a
Best bowling	8/108	4/19	8/108	5/40
Catches/stumpings	16/–	2/–	76/–	22/–
Source: CricketArchive, 20 September 2008

Stuart Charles Glyndwr MacGill (born 25 February 1971) is a former right-arm leg spin bowler of the Australian cricket team, with a domestic career at Western Australia, New South Wales, Nottinghamshire, Devon and Somerset. He has been credited with having the best strike rate of any modern leg-spin bowler, however he did not have a regular place in the Australian Test team due to the dominance of Shane Warne in the position of sole spinner. His bowling was slightly slower through the air than Warne, but he was a prodigious turner of the ball.

He was brought back in 2007 after the retirement of Warne, as spinner for the first Test against the Sri Lankan cricket team. He announced his retirement from international cricket during the second Test of Australia's 2008 tour of the West Indies.^[1] Moving into commentary, MacGill co-hosted the 2009 Ashes series on SBS with Damien Martyn and Greg Matthews. MacGill was a radio co-host on the Triple M Sydney breakfast program, The Grill Team from 2009 until 2010.

Early years[link]

MacGill was born in the Perth suburb of Mount Lawley and began his first-class career in the 1993/94 season playing for Western Australia. Both his father, Terry MacGill, and his grandfather, Charlie MacGill, had previously played cricket for Western Australia. He was an AIS Australian Cricket Academy scholarship holder in 1990-1991.^[2] He managed just one game, against New South Wales at the SCG but did not take a wicket and did not play again for over two years.^[3] When he returned in 1996/97 it was for New South Wales and he took 6 wickets in the match, the first being Darren Berry.^[4] He finished the season with 16 wickets at 37.00.^[5]

He spent the English summer playing club cricket in Devon, for Tiverton CC, and played a game for Somerset against the touring Pakistan A side.^[6]

1997/98 was the breakthrough season for MacGill, he made his Test debut and finished with 35 wickets at 28.14 in the Sheffield Shield.

Test career[link]

In the 3rd Test against South Africa at Adelaide in January 1998, MacGill was selected as Australia's second spinner and helped them to draw the match with 3 for 22 in the second innings.^[7] He next appeared in October of that year for a tour of Pakistan, finishing the series as Australia's top wicket taker with 15 victims at 27.46.^[8]

MacGill kept his spot in the side when they returned home for an Ashes series, again finishing as Australia's most successful bowler with 27 wickets at 17.70. His tally included his then career best innings figures of 7 for 50, made in the 5th Test at Sydney.^[9] He took a total of 12 wickets in that match and had done enough to convince the selectors to use two spinners for their tour of the West Indies.

After taking just 12 wickets from the four Tests he was dropped from the side, only returning when Australia hosted the West Indies in 2000/01. In a series whitewash, all the Australian bowlers bar MacGill, who took 16 wickets at 31.31, managed to average under 20 with the ball.^[10]

He played his next Test in January 2002 against South Africa, taking 7 wickets. With Warne unavailable for the 4th and 5th Tests of the 2002/03 Ashes series, MacGill came in and despite taking 12 wickets he averaged over 40.^[11]

With Shane Warne serving a drugs ban, MacGill returned to the Caribbean in 2003 and for the next year acted as Australia's sole spinner. In the 11 Tests that he played, including the Caribbean tour, he took 53 wickets. He played series against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and India.

Sri Lanka toured Australia in 2004 and despite Warne returning to the side MacGill kept his spot. He struggled throughout the Test series and took just 5 wickets at 46.40.^[12] He lost his spot in the side and over the next year and a half played just two Tests, both on the spin friendly SCG wicket. The first was against Pakistan and his 8 wickets earned him the Man of the Match award. The second was against the ICC World XI and he managed 9 wickets.

MacGill partnered Warne when Australia hosted the West Indies for a Test series in 2005/06. He took 5 wickets at Hobart and just 2 in Adelaide. He played again in the Tests that followed, against South Africa and won a place in Australia's squad for their inaugural tour of Bangladesh. At Fatullah he took 8 for 108 in the first innings, his career best figures.^[13]

Warne retired from Test cricket at the end of the 2006-07 Ashes series, although MacGill faced competition for a place in the side from several younger players. MacGill was never a serious contender for the One Day International team, and has since retired from that form of the game. MacGill announced that he would retire after the 2nd Test against the West Indies.

Twenty20 comeback[link]

MacGill returned to cricket in 2011, signing to play for the Sydney Sixers in Australia's inaugural Big Bash League at the age of 40. After strong performances in the tournament, in which the Sixers qualified for the four-team playoff series, he was picked up by the Dhaka Gladiators for US$50,000 in the player auction for the inaugural Bangladesh Premier League.^[14]

Personal life[link]

MacGill's father, Terry MacGill, and grandfather, Charlie MacGill, both played first-class cricket for Western Australia.

MacGill is married to journalist Rachel Friend.^[15]

MacGill is noted as a thinker who has a fondness for wine and books, once reading 24 novels during a tour of Pakistan.^[16] Known for his individuality, he was the only Australian Cricketer to declare himself unavailable to tour Zimbabwe in 2004 on moral grounds. He also refused to appear in an advertisement for Cricket Australia sponsor KFC, saying: "The problem for me is that KFC and Cricket Australia are hitting parents where they’re vulnerable. Parents are already under a lot of pressure from kids to buy this stuff and when you get the Australian cricket team endorsing it you just increase that pressure. It’s just wrong in so many ways."^[17]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Stuart Macgill charity
• Stuart Macgill uncorked tv programme
• Player profile: Stuart MacGill from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: Stuart MacGill from CricketArchive

Simon Woods (born 1980) is an English actor best known for his role as Octavian in Season 2 of the British-American television series Rome and the 2005 Pride & Prejudice as Mr. Charles Bingley. He also recently starred as Dr Harrison in the BBC1 costume drama series Cranford, whose arrival in the village "sets female hearts racing."

Personal life[link]

He attended Eton College, then read English at Magdalen College, Oxford.^[1] While at Oxford, he was in a relationship with Rosamund Pike that lasted two years.^[2] Despite the break-up, the two later played lovers Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley in Pride & Prejudice.

After graduating from Oxford, Woods worked briefly at The Guardian before becoming an actor.^[3]

In 2009, he announced that he was gay and was in a relationship with Burberry designer Christopher Bailey.^[2][4]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ ^{a b} Barber, Lynn (24 May 2009). "I don't sleep around, if that's what you mean ... Would you like some more cake?". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/may/24/rosamund-pike-actress-interview. 
3. ^ Woods, Simon. "Simon Woods". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simon-woods. 
4. ^ Standing, Sarah (28 May 2009). "Rise of the strays: Who hasn't had a partner who is now with the other sex?". The London Evening Standard. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/article-23700765-rise-of-the-strays-who-hasnt-had-a-partner-who-is-now-with-the-other-sex.do. 

External links[link]

• Simon Woods at the Internet Movie Database