Australia
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Grape
Varieties
Major grape varieties are Shiraz,
Cabernet Sauvignon[8], Chardonnay[9]
, Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon,
and Riesling. The country has
no native grapes, and Vitis
vinifera varieties were introduced
from Europe and South Africa
in the late 18th and early 19th
centuries. Some varieties have
been bred by Australian viticulturalists,
for example Cienna and Tarrango.
Although
Syrah was originally called
Shiraz in Australia and Syrah
elsewhere, its dramatic commercial
success has led many Syrah producers
around the world to label their
wine "Shiraz".
About
130 different grape varieties
are used by commercial winemakers
in Australia. Over recent years
many winemakers have begun exploring
so called "alternative
varieties" other than those
listed above. Many varieties
from France, Italy and Spain
for example Petit Verdot, Pinot
Grigio, Sangiovese, Tempranillo
and Viognier are becoming more
common. Wines from many other
varieties are being produced.
Australian
winemaking results have been
impressive and it has established
benchmarks for a number of varietals,
such as Chardonnay[citation
needed] and Shiraz. Moreover,
Australians have innovated in
canopy management and other
viticultural techniques and
in Learn-Wine-Tasting-Graphic,
and they have a general attitude
toward their work that sets
them apart from producers in
Europe. Australian wine-makers
travel the wine world as highly
skilled seasonal workers, relocating
to the northern hemisphere during
the off-season at home."
They are an important resource
in the globalization of wine
and wine critic Matt Kramer
notes that "the most powerful
influence in wine today"
comes from Australia (Kramer).
Major
Labels
Australia's
most famous wine is Penfolds
Grange. The great 1955
vintage was submitted to competitions
beginning in 1962 and over the
years has won more than 50 gold
medals. The vintage of 1971
won first prize in Syrah/Shiraz
at the Wine Olympics in Paris.
The 1990 vintage was named 'Red
Wine of the Year' by the Wine
Spectator magazine in 1995,
which later rated the 1998 vintage
99 points out of a possible
100. Wine critic Hugh Johnson
has called Grange the only First
Growth of the Southern Hemisphere.
The influential wine critic
Robert M. Parker, Jr., who is
well known for his love of Bordeaux
wines, has written that Grange
"has replaced Bordeaux's
Pétrus as the worlds
most exotic and concentrated
wine".
Other
red wines to garner international
attention include Henschke
Hill of Grace, Clarendon
Hills Astralis, D'Arenberg
Dead Arm, Torbreck
Run Rig and other high-end
Penfolds wines
such as St Henri shiraz.
Australia
has almost 2000 wine producers,
most of whom are small winery
operations. However, the market
is dominated by a small number
of major wine companies. After
several phases of consolidation,
the largest Australian wine
company by sales of branded
wine was Foster's Group in 2001,
2002 and 2003 and then Hardy
Wine Company in 2004 and 2005.
Hardy Wine Company, part of
the world's biggest wine company,
Constellation Brands, had the
largest vineyard hectareage
and the largest winegrape intake
in the years 2001 - 2005. A
list of the major wine companies
in Australia and their associated
wineries can be found below.
- Foster's
Wine Estates
- Wolf
Blass
- Wynns
- Penfolds
- Rosemount
- Lindemans
- Constellation
Brands
- Hardy
Wine Company
- Houghton
Wine Company
- Pernod
Ricard Pacific
- Orlando
Wines
- Richmond
Grove Wines
- Wyndham
Estate
- Casella
Wines
- McGuigan
Simeon Wines
- De
Bortoli Wines
- The
Yalumba Wine Company
- Lion
Nathan
Regions
The
information included on wine
labels is strictly regulated.
One aspect of this is that the
label must not make any false
or misleading statements about
the source of the grapes. Many
names (called geographic indications)
are protected. These are divided
into "South Eastern Australia",
the state names, zones (shown
in the map), regions, and subregions.
The largest volume of wine is
produced from grapes grown in
the warm climate Murray-Darling
Basin zones of Lower Murray,
North Western Victoria and Big
Rivers. In general, the higher-value
premium wines are made from
smaller and cooler-climate regions.
Some well-known regions are
listed below:
South
Australia wine regions
Adelaide Hills
Barossa Valley
Clare Valley
Coonawarra
McLaren Vale
Langhorne Creek
Padthaway
Riverland
Victoria wine regions
Goulburn Valley
Grampians
Heathcote wine region
Mornington Peninsula
Pyrenees
Rutherglen
Yarra Valley
King Valley
New South Wales wine
regions
Hunter Valley
Mudgee
Riverina
Western Australia wine
regions
Margaret River
Swan Valley
Great Southern
In
recent years, the Tasmanian
wine industry has emerged as
a producer of high quality wines.
In particular, the Tamar Valley
has developed a reputation for
its Chardonnay and Pinot Noir,
which are well suited to the
cooler Tasmanian climate. Queensland
is also developing a wine industry
with over 100 vineyards registered
in the state. Some notable wines
are produced in the Granite
Belt region based around Stanthorpe
and Ballandean.
If
this site brought out the wine
lover in you, please link to
us so that others may benefit.
For
more information contact us
at postmaster@vinovixenz.com
with "Vinovixenz
Partner" in the
subject line. We are usually
able to reply within a single
business day.
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