wines from australia

With the establishment of the Federation in 1901, trade barriers between states were removed and the market for wines was further expanded. A feature of this period was the emergence of larger, often long-established companies such as Penfolds and McWilliams, operating in several places in Australia.

After the First World War, vines were planted in various soldiers’ settlements, which temporarily increased production. However, the overproduction and the resulting fall in prices for some grape varieties meant that some wineries were no longer economically competitive and many farms collapsed. In 1925, the British government allowed a preferential tariff for Empire wines, which further boosted the Australian wine industry.

During World War II, exports to Britain were virtually halted due to the lack of ship space. Domestic consumption of wine increased enormously during World War II. The critical shortage of beer led the thirsty armies to look for alternative beverages in both the US and Australia.

After the war, exports were resumed on a smaller scale. In the 1950s, the wine industry flourished in Australia, with South Australia being the center of production. After the end of World War II, there was an influx of European immigrants to Australia, bringing their culture of enjoying food with table wine to restaurants and homes. As new cellar techniques were introduced and developed, and Australians got a taste for the newer, finer wines, wine consumption in Australia increased rapidly.

In the 1960s, about 80% of the wine produced in Australia was sweet, alcohol-enhanced wines in the sherry, Madeira and port styles. They were known in Britain as “Colonial Wine”.

Fueled by consumers’ thirst for dry, red table wine in the mid-1970s, sales of alcohol-enhanced or fortified wines were eventually pushed into the background. In 1980, domestic wine consumption reached a per capita volume of 17.3 liters. The liberalisation of licensing laws for spirits produced a plethora of spirits shops. During this time, the taste of consumers shifted to white wine.

However, from 1996 to 2007, there was a spectacular growth in exports as Australian wines were increasingly appreciated overseas. Large foreign wine producers invested in Australian wineries, and Australian companies took control stakes in wineries in countries such as France and Chile.

Thus, in less than 200 years, the Australian wine industry has evolved from a few small vineyards to an industry known around the world for quality, innovation and depth. Today, Australian wines are awarded awards and adorn the menus of leading restaurants worldwide. Wine is also an integral part of life in the country itself, closely linked to business and leisure. Wine consumption is often associated with the country’s outdoor-oriented lifestyle, but also with the cosmopolitan, urban lifestyle of the majority of the Australian population.

TOTAL VINEYARD AREA: 146,244 ha

WINE PRODUCTION: 1.2 billion liters

WHITE WINE: 514 million litres

RED WINE: 684 million litres

WINE REGIONS: 65

WINERIES: 2,361

SIXTH LARGEST WINE PRODUCER IN THE WORLD

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Claymore wines

HESKETH WINE COMPANY

LONGVIEW VINEYARD

MAXWELL WINES

ST. JOHN’S ROAD

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Historic heart of Australian wine

South Australia is responsible for almost 50% of Australia’s annual production, making it a very important wine-producing state. Here is home to some of the most famous regions, historic wineries and also the oldest vines in the country.

Due to their isolated location and timely quarantine measures, the venerable old vines in Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley and Adelaide Hills survived the large phylloxera plagues. From 1860 onwards, these wiped out almost the entire vineyard stock in North America, Europe and the eastern vineyards of Australia.

The quarantine restrictions not only saved South Australia’s vines from phylloxera but also ensured that the state retained its status as a wine-growing region.

South Australia has a variety of different soil types and local mitigating influences such as different altitudes and cooling sea breezes. This allows a wide range of wine styles and qualities to be produced.

The Protected Appellations or Geographical Indications (GI) in South Australia

• Adelaide = Superzone with Barossa, Fleurieu and Mount Lofty Ranges

• Barossa:Barossa Valley, Eden Valley (High Eden, Springton), Far North

• Fleurieu: Currency Creek, Kangaroo Island, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale (Clarendon), Southern Fleurieu

• Limestone Coast: Coonawarra,
  
  Mount Benson, Mount Gambier, Padthaway, Robe, Wrattonbully

• Lower Murray: Riverland

• Mount Lofty Ranges: Adelaide Hills

  (Gumeracha, Lenswood, Piccadilly Valley), Adelaide Plains, Clare Valley (Auburn, Clare, Hill River, Polish Hill River, Sevenhill, Watervale)

• The Peninsulas: Southern Eyre Peninsula

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aBERDEEN WINE COMPANY

VICTORIA

Home to Australian wine diversity

The second smallest state in Australia is Victoria. However, it is home to more regions and individual wineries than any other state. It also has the greatest variety of regional and locational climates. This allows the production of virtually every wine style imaginable: from fine sparkling wine, high-quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, to barrel-aged Cabernet and spicy Shiraz to the sprinkled wines of Rutherglen.

In the 1880s, Victoria was the largest wine-producing state in Australia. The decline in prosperity after the end of the gold rush and the outbreak of phylloxera temporarily brought production to a standstill in many areas. In the 1970s, however, wine interest and demand was rekindled.

The state, which is located in the southeastern corner of mainland Australia, has many different regions. Murray Darling, Swan Hill and Rutherglen are among the regions with a warm climate. They stretch across the northern and western edges of Victoria and are known for their alcohol-enhanced, liqueur-like wines from the Muscat grape. These present themselves with hedonistic sweet fruit aromas, which are concentrated by long dry autumns.

The Yarra Valley region, just half an hour’s drive from Melbourne, is significantly cooler. It produces Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines of elegance and delicacy.

The Protected Appellations or Geographical Indications (GI) in Victoria

• Central Victoria: Bendigo, Goulburn Valley (Nagambie Lakes), Heathcote, Strathbogie Ranges, Upper Goulburn
• Gippsland

• North East Victoria: Alpine Valleys (Kiewa Valley, Ovens Valley), Beechworth, Glenrowan, King Valley (Myrrhee, Whitlands), Rutherglen (Wahgunyah)

• North West Victoria: Murray Darling, Swan Hill

• Port Phillip: Geelong, Macedon Ranges, Mornington Peninsula, Sunbury, Yarra Valley

• Western Victoria: Grampians (Great Western), Henty, Pyrenees

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Topper’s mountain wines

NEW SOUTH WALES

The cradle of Australian wine

The history of viticulture in Australia begins in the Sydney area. With the First Fleet, the first vines also came to the continent and were planted there in 1788 in Sydney Cove. New South Wales is the most populous state in Australia. However, it accounts for only about 30% of Australia’s total annual production. Other vines were planted by Captain John Macarthur near Camden in the same year. Gregory Blaxland planted vineyards around the Parramatta River in the early 1800s.

The biggest development boost for Australian wine came from James Busby. His collection of 362 vines was originally planted in the Botanical Garden. However, cuttings of these vines found their way to other parts of New South Wales (NSW), Victoria and South Australia.

The state of New South Wales, located on the east coast of the continent, offers an incredible variety of climates. These range from coastal areas such as the Shoalhaven Coast, south of Sydney, to alpine areas at the top of the Great Dividing Range. Here, hardy vines at an altitude of over 500 m above sea level often struggle to survive.

If you follow the murrumbidgee and Murray rivers flowing inland to the west, you will reach the warm climatic regions of Riverina, Perricoota, Swan Hill and Murray Darling. Immediately north of Sydney is one of Australia’s best-known and most historic wine regions: the Hunter Valley.

The Protected Appellations or Geographical Indications (GI) in New South Wales

• Big Rivers: Murray Darling, Perricoota, Riverina, Swan Hill
  
• Central Ranges: Cowra, Mudgee, Orange
• Hunter Valley: Hunter (Allandale, Belford, Broke Fordwich, Dalwood, Pokolbin, Rothbury)
• Northern Rivers: Hastings River
• Northern Slopes: New England Australia
• South Coast: Shoalhaven Coast, Southern Highlands
• Southern New South Wales: Canberra District, Gundagai, Hilltops, Tumbarumba
• Western Plains

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The search for the best terroir

Western Australia covers the western third of the Australian continent and is the largest state. The wine-growing regions are concentrated almost exclusively on the southwest and the large south of the state. The capital of the state is Perth. Nearby are the Swan District, Peel and Geographe wine regions. Most cultivation zones, however, are located further south away from the metropolitan region. They include the Blackwood Valley, Pemberton, Manjimup and Margaret River regions.

Wine production has been around in Western Australia since 1840 and began when the Sandalford company was founded in the Swan Valley region. However, the potential to produce good wine there was only recognized after the founding of the Margaret River Region in 1967.

Three decades ago, Margaret River was better known for its various classic surf spots. Only empirical studies by scientists such as Dr. John Gladstones proved that the region is perfectly suited for the production of top wines. Not only wines from the classic grape varieties Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon have been admired worldwide, but also the unique Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc blends. The other regions also produce a wide range of regionally diverse wines, from delicately spicy Shiraz to a number of characterful Cabernet Sauvignon blends.

The Protected Appellations or Geographical Indications (GI) in Western Australia

• Central Western Australia
  

• Eastern Plains

• Domestic & North of Western Australia

• Greater Perth: Peel, Perth Hills, Swan District (Swan Valley)

• South West Australia: Blackwood Valley, Geographer, Great Southern (Albany, Denmark, Frankland River, Mount Barker, Porongurup), Manjimup, Margaret River, Pemberton

• West Australian South East Coastal: Esperance

QUEENSLAND

Developing, emerging wine regions

This second largest state in the east has a wine history of over 150 years. The first vines were planted in the 1860s in Roma and in the Granite Belt region. Its importance in Australian viticulture is still low, but this is changing because Queensland has experienced an upswing in recent years. Thanks to a number of dedicated winemakers, the state’s wine regions produce world-class wines. With Granite Belt and South Burnett, Queensland has two recognised Wine Appellations (Geographical Indications, GI) and with increasing wine tourism, more wineries have established themselves there and opened their cellar doors.

Some farms have recently gone beyond the traditional varieties Chardonnay, Semillon, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and have passionately turned to alternative varieties such as Tempranillo, Viognier and many others.

The vineyards in Queensland cover around 100 hectares in the far south. There are around 80 wineries, the largest of which is Barambah Ridge.

The three growing regions in Queensland are:

• Coastal Hinterland

• Granite Belt

• South Burnett

TASMANIA

Paradise with a cool climate

Off the south coast of Australia, in the cool waters of the Southern Ocean, lies the untouched island state of Tasmania. Due to the influence of the Pacific, the climate is extremely cool. Some compare it to Champagne in France in terms of temperatures over the entire growing season.

As early as 1865, the first commercial vineyards were planted on the island. However, because of the gold rush on the mainland a decade later, the wine industry collapsed. It was not until the late 1970s that wine interest revived. Tasmania is a diverse wine region. The cultivation areas range from the Pipers River and Tamar Valley areas in the north to the Coal River, Derwent Valley and Huon/Channel districts in the south.

Nationally and internationally, the island enjoys a reputation as a producer of high-quality premium wines from an untouched and natural environment.

The growing conditions here are ideal. There is a cool climate that has long, sunny and dry autumns. Tasmania offers perfect conditions, especially for the development of naturally elegant, flavourful and aromatic wines such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. In addition, the island is also a picturesque gourmet paradise.

The wine-growing region is divided into three regions:

• East Coast Tasmania

• Northern Tasmania

• Southern Tasmania