Volcanic Wine Awards | The Jancis Robinson Story | 🎁 25% off annual & gift memberships

Lockdown Down Under

Monday 1 November 2021
Willcox sisters, Easter 2020

Max describes how Australia has become a nation divided by the pandemic and its effects.

Virginia and Cath Willcock live on opposite sides of Australia. Virginia is chief winemaker at the historic Vasse Felix winery in Margaret River in Western Australia; Cath runs a wine-distribution business, Imbibo, 3,000 km (1,860 miles) away in Melbourne, Victoria. Above they are pictured with partners and children celebrating Easter 2020 together in Margaret River – Virginia extreme left – but their subsequent experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic could not be more different.

‘Here in WA we’ve been effectively living COVID-free for two years’, says...

Become a member to continue reading

Celebrating 25 years of building the world’s most trusted wine community

In honour of our anniversary, enjoy 25% off all annual and gift memberships for a limited time.

Use code HOLIDAY25 to join our community of wine experts and enthusiasts. Valid through 1 January.

Member
$135
/year
Save over 15% annually
Ideal for wine enthusiasts
  • Access 285,502 wine reviews & 15,806 articles
  • Access The Oxford Companion to Wine & The World Atlas of Wine
Inner Circle
$249
/year
 
Ideal for collectors
  • Access 285,502 wine reviews & 15,806 articles
  • Access The Oxford Companion to Wine & The World Atlas of Wine
  • Early access to the latest wine reviews & articles, 48 hours in advance
Professional
$299
/year
For individual wine professionals
  • Access 285,502 wine reviews & 15,806 articles
  • Access The Oxford Companion to Wine & The World Atlas of Wine
  • Early access to the latest wine reviews & articles, 48 hours in advance
  • Commercial use of up to 25 wine reviews & scores for marketing
Business
$399
/year
For companies in the wine trade
  • Access 285,502 wine reviews & 15,806 articles
  • Access The Oxford Companion to Wine & The World Atlas of Wine
  • Early access to the latest wine reviews & articles, 48 hours in advance
  • Commercial use of up to 250 wine reviews & scores for marketing
Pay with
Visa logo Mastercard logo American Express logo Logo for more payment options
Join our newsletter

Get the latest from Jancis and her team of leading wine experts.

By subscribing you agree with our Privacy Policy and provide consent to receive updates from our company.

More Max on Oz

Project 5255 vintage 2022 winemakers
Max on Oz In South Australia, giving away grapes turns out to make good business sense. Above, winemakers involved in Project 5255, vintage...
Australia 2023 total crush by grape colour
Max on Oz This column marks ten years of Max Allen’s contributions to JancisRobinson.com. His first regular article, on Australia’s next generation of...
The Goulburn River spilled over its banks, flooding the vineyards at Tahbilk.
Max on Oz Floods and drought collide in eastern Australia. The last time the cellars flooded at Mitchelton was 1974, just after the...
Screwcaps
Max on Oz Do screwcaps preserve wines during a glorious evolution, or stunt their development? In 1977, when Clare Valley winemaker Andrew Mitchell...

More from JancisRobinson.com

Clos du Caillou team
Tasting articles Plenty of drinking pleasure on offer in 2024 – and likely without a long wait. The team at Clos du...
Ch de Beaucastel vineyards in winter
Inside information Yields are down but pleasure is up in 2024, with ‘drinkability’ the key word. Above, a wintry view Château de...
Poon's dining room in Somerset House
Nick on restaurants A daughter revives memories of her parents’ much-loved Chinese restaurants. The surname Poon has long associations with the world of...
Front cover of the Radio Times magazine featuring Jancis Robinson
Inside information The fifth of a new seven-part podcast series giving the definitive story of Jancis’s life and career so far. For...
RBJR01_Richard Brendon_Jancis Robinson Collection_glassware with cheese
Free for all What do you get the wine lover who already has everything? Membership of JancisRobinson.com of course! (And especially now, when...
Red wines at The Morris by Cat Fennell
Free for all A wide range of delicious reds for drinking and sharing over the holidays. A very much shorter version of this...
Windfall vineyard Oregon
Tasting articles The fine sparkling-wine producers of Oregon are getting organised. Above, Lytle-Barnett’s Windfall vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon (credit: Lester...
Karl and Alex Fritsch in winery; photo by Julius_Hirtzberger.jpg
Wines of the week A rare Austrian variety revived and worthy of a place at the table. From €13.15, £20.10, $24.19. It was pouring...
Wine inspiration delivered directly to your inbox, weekly
Our weekly newsletter is free for all
By subscribing you're confirming that you agree with our Terms and Conditions.