Through the wine club I am involved in, I get the opportunity to try out some different wines I would not normally try. The Yarra Yerling is exactly one of those wines that I am not exposed to, and I took a while to learn their numbers. The No. 1 is cabernet sauvignon, the No. 2 is a shiraz that are both full bodied and the No. 3 a medium bodied wine.

The 2018 Dry Red No. 2 is a blend of 95% shiraz and rounded out with 3% viognier, 1% marsanne and 1% mataro, so one could argue this is pretty much a shiraz. A 20+ years cellaring potential for a shiraz is huge, normally 10+ is a pretty good guide for a premium wine. I have ordered a carton, some will be drinking now with my father and some will be cellared, I have to really organise a spreadsheet with wines and vintages along with preferred drinking times.

The Dry Red No. 2 is drawn from the original 1969 plantings of shiraz, further shiraz was planted throughout the 1990’s, with the mataro and viognier sourced from vines planted between 1984 to 1995. As a premium winemaker, this was hand-picked fruit and destemmed before fed into the fermenter with some stems added later to contribute to structure.

Frozen vionier and marsanne skins were added to the bottom of the fermenter to round out the flavour. The No. 2 was matured for 12 months in French oak barriques with 30% of the barriques being new. The aroma is plums, violets and spice with some cigar box in the aftertaste. I suggest there is a fine oak structure that is not overdone, this happened a few years back where some wines were over wooded, this imparts enough fine oak flavours.

One of the most famous of all business schools is Harvard Business School at Harvard University, Boston Massachusetts. Deeply entrenched in the ivy league, Harvard Business School, or HBS is one of the most prestigious business schools in not just the United States, but worldwide.

Notably, the Harvard MBA is one of the most difficult business schools to be accepted with an 8% acceptance rate, or really, a 92% failure rate. Harvard Business School Publishing creates some highly sought after reference books, clearly aligned to their subject matter. HBS sells their used case studies to second and third tier universities, some like me have been exposed to former HBS case studies, but the academic leadership and competency of team members is nowhere near the level at HBS.

The case study method pioneered by HBS in the 1920s is aligned to motivated professionals who are already experts in their field. The early Harvard MBA course was pitched at professionals such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects and accountants who were self-employed running business enterprises. The case study method suited highly educated and highly motivated professionals who engaged in postgraduate study. Likewise, I can purchase and read the same textbooks that HBS students read, however, the tutorial experience and interaction is not at the same level as a HBS tutorial.

The purpose of educating professionals with in demand skill-sets was to develop leadership skills for subject matter experts. They needed to learn the language of business, the principles of business such as finance, accounting, economics, decision-making, marketing, operations management, human resources, general management, organisational behaviour, change management, negotiation, problem-solving, leadership, and strategy.

What makes HBS a first rate business school is their alignment to industry, their work experience program [internships], their employment channels and their alumni. HBS keeps former students engaged and offers excellent networking opportunities. This is where HBS excels, their graduates are carefully selected and the HBS name alone provides great employment opportunities.

For me the TAG Heuer S/el is the most iconic of Eddy Schöpfer’s designs. I like the case, bezel and dial, but the S/el is mostly known for the rounded integrated bracelet. I love the curved lugs that seamlessly merge into the two link bracelet. The S/el was the flagship range for TAG Heuer until the 6000 series came along, for my tastes the S/el is the leading model of the era.

The S/el is all about the bracelet, the beautifully rounded design of the case works for me. Yes, the dial is a little smaller than what I wear now, case sizes have increased in the last number of years with oversized cases now the norm. This is just a trend, 44 mm to 48 mm cases will eventually be relegated to design school history.

Eddy Schöpfer designed the 2000 series for TAG Heuer, this is now the Aquaracer. The 2000 series is the exact opposite design to the S/el with sharp case edges and bezel. This is what makes both these designs interesting, two totally different designs for the same watchmaker, the S/el is the pick of the designs, the 2000 series has its merits too.

I like the chronograph complication found on wrist watches, the chronograph function was a highly useful tool back in the 1960s. Ok, so we live in the 2020s now and the digital age with cheap stopwatch functions on mobile phones, tablets and the smartwatch offers a low-cost solution. Any digital watch has a stopwatch function, they might be a little difficult to access and operate, but they are available.

The Speedmaster is in my opinion the best chronograph on the market, the aesthetics of the dial and case offer the best proportions. The design is endearing, although a 1950s design style never goes out of fashion. The Speedmaster is the best timepiece ever produced by Omega. Sure, I love the versatility of the Seamaster, but between all the models, the Speedmaster is by far the more pleasing design.

The Speedmaster is flight qualified by NASA, the testing process is arduous and the Speedmaster is the only timepiece to meet all NASA testing requirements. There has been two testing regimes and the Speedmaster is the only mechanical watch to pass these tests. I have to hnd it to NASA, they are absolutely unwilling to compromise standards regardless of the political pressure applied. So the Speedmaster is expensive, no doubt about that, but still a significant discount to chronographs from other luxury watchmakers – go figure.

I have been fortunate enough to be introduced to the Victoria’s Yarra Valley despite having never visited the region. The Yarra Valley produces some excellent wines, I was never previously aware of this so it came as a bit of a revelation. The Yarra Yering winery is an excellent example of Victorian wine making, they have a premium product that comes at a premium price. Given 98 points by Jane Falkener from James Halliday’s Wine Companion, she rates it highly and I can see why.

I have tasted the Yarra Yering No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 over a number of vintages. The No. 1 stands out as the premium wine in that range, that is the pick of the three I believe. This is a deep dark red wine packed with black current flavours, some mulberry that is a tad earthy. This is a style that works for me, a little French in construction. There are hints of tobacco and vanilla oak, this is a pretty big wine with 13.5% alcohol.

The Dry Red No. 1 is pretty much a Bordeaux with a blend of 60% cabernet sauvignon, 24% merlot, 11% malbec and 5% petit verdot. As I love the Bordeaux style, this is a full bodied blended wine style that works for not just me but plenty of others. The tannins are fine and gives this wine some legs with a ten to fifteen year cellaring potential.

When the wine merchant rang me offering the Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 3, I was interested. I had tried the Dry Red No. 1 and Dry Red No. 2 and liked both their offerings. The Dry Red No. 3 is much softer than I saw with the No. 1 and No. 2 and that is pretty simple as the No. 1 is a cabernet sauvignon blend, the No. 2 is a shiraz with the No. 3 a softer style.

Naturally, I checked the tasting notes and learned these were the last grapes picked. These were hand picked, so I am guessing these are older low yielding vines, they even had the first working with the feet as per traditional Portuguese style. This wine was matured in old oak barrels for 10 months before bottling so a much softer oak style with a 12.5% alcohol content.

This wine is a blend, and I must admit, I am not familiar with these varieties. So, the No. 3 is 28% Touriga Naçional, 28% Tinta Cão, 17% Tinta Amarela, 11% Tinta Roriz, 11% Alvarelhão and 5% Sousão, that is quite a mix. So I need to review Portuguese table wines, we all know their Duo Valley port blends, this is a dry style wine.

So it was a cold Friday night, the second last day of the month on the second wettest July on record. It had rained just about every day this month, I had done no running whatsoever and was feeling it, my fitness was deteriorating.

I walked in and grabbed a pint and waited for my friend to arrive. It was a cold night and I had my heavy rain jacket on, it was an open bar of sorts, there were gas heaters on. The Exchange Brewing Co had a couple of interesting drinks, my first drink was a higher malt beer, I asked for more hops so this is what I got. 

My next selection was a pilsner, this is named the Blue Chip and I thought it was pretty good. I wanted to try their lighter styles first before moving onto the heavier stout and ales. A wheat beer came next, I do like German style wheat beers ever since the Sail and Anchor opened in Fremantle in the 1980s. When I can, I drink Weihenstephan wheat beer, I like Redback wheat beer and this is what got me interested in German wheat beer. The Lemon and Lime Hefeweizen is an ok wheat beer and I would drink again.  

The Mid lager was pretty good followed by their Red Ale, these are pints and now I had already put my tablet away. I was drinking pints and they were taking effect, without notes, my night was getting hazy and Loop Hole, a pale American ale. As my friend had arrived during my second pint we really started to get going. There was some whiskey at some point, we wandered across the road to order some food to bring back and I remember the walk home was long and staggered. 

It’s been a while since I have been in Phuket, my first time in Phuket was my second overseas trip. I went there specifically to take an entry-level diving course. Now I have dived throughout South-East Asia, my first dive experiences were in Thailand and I have been back a few times since, Asia as a region is fantastic for diving.

My life changed after that two weeks, diving became a large part of my life and I have never looked back. I can’t say I have dived the world yet, my life isn’t over yet although I have dived a bit of South East Asia. My second trip to Phuket was the result of a one week Bali holiday for two people that I won through a raffle in my workplace. I wasn’t so interested in a trip for two in Bali so I went to the travel agent and changed my booking for a two week trip for one to Phuket.

Looking around European churches it is not hard to see why they are considered works of art. Where do you start? The architecture, the ceilings, ceilings, paintings or stained glass windows? What style are we looking at early Christian, Byzantine, gothic, renaissance, baroque, rococo or neoclassical.

Catholic churches spread all over Europe are architectural wonders with inspiration drawn from more than just gothic, neo-gothic, and baroque influences. I am constantly in awe of these engineering structures of excellence, I do not get sick of visiting when I am in Europe. I see so many different styles based on the time period when these churches were constructed.

So whenever I am in a city, I will visit the churches of that city, you can pretty much learn the history of the city from the churches. Europe is old, the church was the centre of the city during that period, that is why I find European churches so interesting when I visit. I do not necessarily go inside all the time, just every now and again, but I always like to wander around the outside.

I am interested in business schools, both US and international business schools. Most top tier business schools are located in the US and Europe. They may even have a campus in the Middle East or Asia or enter agreements with local universities and business schools. Like a number of the large US business schools, they have a publishing arm based on papers authored by faculty members and Chicago Business Press, now acquired by Sage.

In Europe there is Insead, IMD, IE Business School, IESE Business School, ESSEC Business School. If you no longer count the United Kingdom as Europe then there is Said Business School at Oxford university, Judge Business School at Cambridge University, London Business School, and Warwick Business School. So there is plenty of competition both internationally and domestically, Chicago Booth Business School ranks pretty highly in both US and international ratings.

So, Chicago Booth is located on Lake Michigan at the University of Chicago in the state of Illinois, Whilst US business schools are known for their specialty areas, Chicago Booth specialises in finance. I have done some finance units, I can honestly say corporate finance is my weakest area. Chicago Booth created the first Executive MBA program in the world so we know the calibre of candidate they are attracting. Chicago Booth specialises in accounting, analytical finance, business analytics, corporate finance and economics.