The (Sickly) Taste of Success
Bill Calabria, of Westend Estate in the Riverina region of NSW, Australia, has a serious problem with winemaking – it makes him sick! But that has not stopped him from taking out the top young red trophy at the 2005 NSW Wine Awards. Then as a cure for any winemaker's hangover Calabria's 2004 Richland Shiraz bested 676 other wines, including reds, whites and bubblies to win best in show. Forty wines made it into the last grouping before the final winner was picked.

As reported by Jeff Collerson in the October 20, 2005 edition of The Daily Telegraph, Mr Calabria believes his acute sense of smell compensates for him being allergic to alcohol.

"When I'm blending wine after vintage I smell them, taste them, then spit them out," Calabria said yesterday.

"But after a long blending session, even without swallowing, I feel sick and have to go and rest."

That is one problem that I could do without.