When you’re keen on wine of the month clubs and the different types of wines that are obtainable, you’ll need to have wine types from places all over the world. Having the ability to enjoy wine types from alternative places in the planet will allow you to relish your wine more.
Sparkling Wine Clubs eliminates the effort of not knowing what wine to purchase and provides a rock-hard advice with each shipment. What you are trying for could be a wine that will be perfect for you to share with friends and family and on a special day, all whereas appreciating the simplicity of the service.
The most effective way to seek out these different wines from everywhere the world is to hitch a wine club. After you join a wine club, you may be in a position to urge wines from everywhere round the globe. You’ll step into new and better means of enjoying wine. A wine club will be a great manner for someone to appreciate all totally different types of wine.
Wine clubs can be in quest of the wines that win awards and have the most effective taste. The wines that are chosen for most wine clubs are wines that are made from the most effective grapes that are raised in the simplest vineyards. Most of the clubs can do their analysis on these wines and build positive that they’re bringing you only the very best in wine every month.
We have a tendency to have all encountered a wine moment where the lined up wine types on the shelves start looking the same. The effort of going to the wine store and deliberating on what bottle to attempt next is typically thus difficult. Standing in the center of the wine isle without a clue of what to get is thus embarrassing too. Lost in a very ocean of overwhelming bottles, you begin to lose interest within the variety and style of wines offered and miss the best wines on the market. You’ll never have that downside with a wine club membership as every alternative is the perfect selection for you.
Wine clubs supply wines from all over. You can get wines from great places like Paris and Italy. You’ll be able to step into the lavish world of fine wine. There is no better method to flee to completely different components of the globe then to own wine club bringing you great wine every and each month.
You’ll be a part of a world wine club as well. This can enable you to get wines from vineyards everywhere the world. You’ll have recent world wine delivered to your home for great dinner parties. You will have the most effective entertaining with nice international wines.
When you receive these awesome wines every month, you may feel like you are stepping into a replacement world with each taste. The wines that you simply receive from a wine club are something that you can enjoy together with your family or by yourself. You may learn to actually appreciate the style and therefore the history of wine.
You’ll not be disappointed with the wines that you are brought once you be part of a wine club. You may not find higher wines at better costs anywhere else. This is a great opportunity for anyone who loves wine to open up his or her mind and explore the wine world.
is exciting and most wine lovers don’t see what they have been missing until they try one. Be sure you find out more about and special wine types before you enter one. Do not jeopardy being left out at your next social get-together.
Australia has become a world leader in domestic and exported wine. What began as a few vineyard cuttings over 200 years ago has now flourished into an amazing industry – the fourth largest in the world! Australia exports over 450 million litters of wine each year across the globe. The burgeoning wine industry has been an economic boon for the country. Not only have the +2,000 vineyards provided jobs, wineries have increased employment in other areas and improved tourism as visitors come to Australia to tour local wineries.
Australia’s wine is considered to be some of the most exquisite and delicious wine produced in the world, but it took many decades to reach that point.
The First Cuttings
Grapes are not native to Australia. The first vineyard cuttings were brought into the country when Australia still served as a penal colony. In 1788 Governor Phillips attempted to harvest the grapes for personal use but his efforts failed.
Fortunately, others succeeded where the governor failed. In the following years Australia began to see an influx of settlers who began to attempt to cultivate grapes using new processes. This is seen as the true beginning of Australia’s wine industry.
By 1820 the first winemakers in Australia were offering their products for sale inside the country. It was very popular and quite chic to be one of the first to sample ‘home-grown’ or domestic Australian wine in the early part of the 19th century.
Across the Pond
In 1822 Gregory Blaxland burst onto the Australian wine scene and changed it forever. Mr. Blaxland was the first Australian vintner to attempt to export his product. He did so with great success and even garnered rewards, including the first award ever awarded to an Australian wine in an overseas exposition.
After Mr. Blaxland set Australia’s name on the winemaking map its popularity began to grow worldwide. In the mid 19th century a bottle of Australian wine was sent by ship to Her Majesty, Queen Victoria.
One of the best known and oft related stories in wine history concerns an Australian wine. In 1873 at the Vienna Exposition judges tasted wine from different countries without knowing which country the wine was from. This is called a blind tasting. A French judge pronounced his favour upon an Australian wine but immediately withdrew in protest once he was made aware of the provenance of the wine. His reason? Only a French wine could be of such a high quality!
More settlers flooded into the country and found opportunities in the winemaking industry. The first vineyards were mainly backyard operations but with the new manpower and fortunes of the recent arrivals entirely new winemaking regions were identified, improving the country’s winemaking operations.
An Unfortunate Event
The Australian wine industry was devastated in the 1890’s by an epidemic of phylloxera. This is a plight similar to aphids that completely destroys all vegetation. Vineyards around the country were destroyed.
The country worked for many decades to rebuild their wine industry. It struggled for years on sweet and fortified wines. But, in the late 1970’s production was once again up and running at world leader standards.
A True World Leader
The most popular wine in Australia would have to be the Penfolds Grange. This incredible wine has won many competitions through the years. The 1955 vintage was allowed to age until 1962 before being submitted to competitions. Since that time it has won over 50 gold medals.
A wonderful wine culture has emerged in Australia. Wine bars, and boutique wineries are found around the continent and very popular with all ages. Locals and tourists enjoy holidays at Australian wineries where they can tour the winery and see the wine being made. Australia also is home to several large wine events including Taste Australia and the Margaret River Wine Region Festival.
No matter where you are in Australia you will find grapes being grown for winemaking. The main wineries are found in the south, in Victoria, and in New South Wales because of the cooler climate. But, even visitors to the hot centre of Alice Springs will find a local winery to cool things off.
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The Trials and Tribulations of Australian Wine Game
There is little doubt that the Australian wine-grower has had a tough time of it lately. If it`s not climate change playing havoc with the ripening cycles and rain fall averages, it`s the strength of the Aussie dollar relative to the US dollar – totally devastating the export value of the average bottle of good old Barossa shiraz…
There is however another aspect to the trials and tribulations of the industry which is becoming more and more apparent – brand Australia is no longer the coolest kid on the wine block with the groovy sneakers and matching i-phone.
There was a time not too long ago when the UK supermarkets were bulging with good value Australian reds that were being consumed in near-alarming amounts along with the weekend take-away Chicken Tikka dinners and Coronation Street episodes so beloved by the average British household.
At the time, it was cool to rag the French and Bulgarians for lousy low-end wines and every visiting Australian winemaker was treated like Mick Jagger on a come-back tour every time they touched down at Heathrow.
These days, it`s the Chileans and Argentineans who have elbowed their ways into the hearts and minds of most UK and US wine shoppers, and it`s hurting back home in a big way.
It has to be said that the average bottle of South American wine is cheaper to produce by a country mile than most Australian wines. They are also producing new and exciting varietals such as Malbec and Carmenere (like Shiraz but mostly sweeter and denser). With most trends the cycle highs and lows are always extreme, and currently my antipodean hackles are being raised by the amount of negative international press we are getting in the global marketplace. Some of the bad press is justified as it is fair to say that the impact of Robert Parker`s preference for certain styles of wines have moulded a lot of Australian winemaker’s product – only to be left high and dry as the global consumer is nudged toward alternate countries styles and varietals.
As Victoria`s Secret Super-Model Heidi Klum is famous for saying of fashion “One Minute You are In and the Next Minute you are Out…”
There are green grass-shoots of hope amongst all of this.
Firstly it has forced a lot of producers to take a look at what they produce and how they produce it. Regions are being examined a lot more closely to understand exactly what varietals work best in a specific place – so Riesling out of Clare, Shiraz out of Barossa and so on. This is a good thing and can only result in more carefully considered wines which have the best chance of showing what they can do best.
The next thing is that it has started to produce interesting and hereto unknown varietals out of Australia, like Spanish sourced Savagnin or also called Traminer (a style like Sauvignon Blanc) – which really gives the South Island of New Zealand a run for its money with Sauvignon Blanc. Heathcote is producing some pretty sexy Tempranillo and I tasted a 100% Mouvedre from Coonawarra the other day which would make angels weep.
Winemakers are also travelling more – making wines in different countries and learning more about consumer styles and trends. I was lucky enough to spend some time with Two Hands winemaker Matt Wenk last month – in Singapore to meet, greet and drink with expats at a recent Austcham event. What was brought home to me in a big way was his commitment to the notion that a winery was at its best if drawing grapes from multiple regions and making the most of the chosen varietals – the experts call this Regional Differentiation. I reckon it is here to stay and will be the foundation of the rebirth of the Australian wine industry in years to come.
I manage an online wine e-tail portal in Singapore – servicing most of South East Asia. Our specialty is New World Wines into Singapore, Hong Kong and China.
A “connoisseur” – according to Oxford – is an “expert judge in matter of taste”. For sure you know what you like and dislike, so already that makes you a judge. As for being an expert, you have “to have special knowledge of or skill in a subject”. OK, this might require a bit of work but I can assure you it is much easier than most connoisseurs would have you believe.
Realize first that the key to being an expert in wine is to know precisely what aspects to look for in any bottle you uncork. The average novice has a vague idea at best. Consequently, despite the fact that both persons have the same discerning abilities, no matter how much wine the novice drinks, it won’t improve his ability to judge properly.
So what we will do here is to spell out in plain English the basic but quintessential virtues that make for a good bottle of wine. I think this will help you evaluate every glass of wine and form an expert opinion with ease. I am going to take you through just three fundamental areas of appreciation, namely Typicity, Quality and Age-worthiness. Mastering them is all that stands between you – a wine novice – and you – a wine connoisseur.
Style and Typicity
The style of wine from Bordeaux will and should be different from Napa Valley or Chile, otherwise wine would be a terribly boring hobby. No one style rules supreme in the wine domain. Typicity which describes how accurate the rendition of the style that the wine is supposed to manifest, is very important quality.
An average wine connoisseur is familiar with about 30 styles of wine. It doesn’t take long for a novice to achieve that. All you need to do is to taste a lot. Your palates have excellent memory even if your mind struggles to find more Giga bytes to store a lot of facts and figures. Very soon, when you open a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino, all your senses will automatically receive a download of tasting expectations. And even if the wine tastes very good it would be a disappointment if it doesn’t reflect the quality of its roots. So questions like “Are Australian wines better than French?” are really missing the point.
Quality
With the topic of style down pat, we can take a look at quality of taste. It is actually quite easy. I just need your mind to zoom in on five key areas. Your senses will then render an expert opinion on whether the stuff is good, bad or ugly. The five areas are:
Consistency
Intensity
Vigor
Balance
Finish
Consistency is about tactile qualities that leave a rewarding palate impression, not about flavors. Wine writers like to use the term Body to describe the weight of a wine. Full-, medium- and light-body describe how heavy and light a wine feels on the tongue. But size isn’t everything so in addition to body, we’re also looking for texture of smoothness and silkiness. The great Burgundy wine of Chambertin is well known for its remarkable combination of a full body and a velvety texture.
The flavors of a wine might come in low, medium or high intensity, much like the volume of music played on a stereo. Great wine comes with an appropriate level of intensity just high enough to capture your undivided attention yet not excessively so as to drown out everything else. It is such deft touch that separates the great Australian wine – Grange (Hermitage) – from many expensive baubles out of the same region.
Vigor comes from acidity without which the wine would taste dull and flat if not downright boring. Great chefs often squeeze a splash of lemon juice to finish off a dish. The presence of the same kind of fresh acidity adds crispiness to a wine making it taste racy with a bit of welcomed levity. The great Italian Barolo from Piedmont are endowed with this quality and so are some of the lovely Sauvignon Blanc white wines from New Zealand.
Balance is the quintessential quality of a great wine. A wine is out of balance if one component sticks out like a sore thumb. Most frequently encountered flaws that throw a wine out of balance are excessively high alcohol which makes the wine taste overly dry and astringent (“hot” in wine jargon) and in white wines especially Chardonnays, excessively woody (“oaky” in wine jargon) and buttery which effaces the fruit flavors in the wine. The great Château Lafite-Rothschild is benchmark for balance par excellence.
The word “finish” refers to the length and quality of the aftertaste. In a long finish, flavors linger on for nearly a minute. But length isn’t everything if the aftertaste fails to maintain its balance. Some long finishes fall apart giving way to a distinctly sour or bitter impression. Length doesn’t always bring satisfaction.
Age-worthiness
To achieve greatness a wine must first undergo the arduous challenge of time. Most wines are not made with greatness in mind. For them, time is an insidious revelation of their mediocrity. For the best of breeds, age imbues in them depth and complexity of flavors. That distinguishes the wine from the merely good. Knowing this, fastidious connoisseurs relentlessly scour the town for old vintages pricey as some old bottles could (and should) be. Novices on the other hand go for brand names and sometimes settle for wines that are far too young to drink, rarely getting their money’s worth. After all, it is the ability of wine to improve with age that positions it above all the other beverages.
By now, you have endued yourself with more than enough knowledge to be your own expert judge on every bottle you drink. If you feel lacking a bit in exposure and experience, then just drink and drink and drink some more. But drinking the same stuff over and over again won’t help. Best advice is for you to refrain from ordering the same wine night in and night out. Your time is best spent with a new fancy every evening. Promiscuity is inextricably married to connoisseurship. Even if you can’t divorce yourself from the “usual” at least be adventurous with different vintages of the same wine. Every year produces a different version of the same wine. This too is part of the myriad of fascinations that the world of wine has to offer.
Whether you are an assiduous restaurateur, a gregarious hobbyist or just a raver with a penchant for the finer things, wine is certainly an affair worth pursuing. This is one relationship which allows you to define all the rules. It can be a languid sidekick or you can take it seriously with a lot of respect and understanding. Ultimately it probably won’t love you back and it certainly won’t stop demanding more of your time, attention and alas, money. If this sounds like a raw deal, then perhaps this is one affair you should sidestep.
But imagine if that’s not a problem for you, what else in life can offer an reward so prodigious as something different and exciting to look forward to every single night?
Tim Drake is resident wine journalist in Asia, contributing to magazines and broadsheet in wine and the lifestyle that this beverage has created for the modern world.
Everybody loves a good scandal, and this one`s got government officials scurrying for cover like sprayed cockroaches – from Barcelona to the Barossa…somebody has stuffed up big time…
Like with the rugby, the global dominance of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is annoying for every good Australian wine-grower and it is heartening to see the growers trying new regions, clones and varietals to come up with a contender to the good old Marborough cats-pee and capsicum concoctions of New Zealand.
One of the countries the Australians looked to for alternatives was Spain and in particular, the Albarino grape.
To cut a long story short, the Australians shipped the varietal in, planted it, labelled and started selling it…..then a few years later somebody in the corridors of power finished his tea break, looked at the Australian Albarino clone under a microscope and found out that in actual fact the stuff is NOT Albarino – it is something called Sauvinee Blanc (The word Sauvinee has a fabulous Spanish twirl over the “e” but I have given up looking for it on my laptop).
The Australian authorities are blaming the Spanish authorities who are denying any liability and the farmers, quite rightly are howling for blood, after investing in the varietal and its potential positioning in the global market. I first fell over the grape at an ANZA Wine Club Spanish night, and the first thing that came into my Chorizo and Grenacha addled-mind at the time was – “holy hell this stuff is good Sauvignon Blanc.”
It has the same acid – maybe a bit more refined. It generally has that same crisp acid potential that we demand from our Sauvignon Blanc together a fair slug of lush tropical fruit. It seems in short, a great Sauvignon Blanc alternative for those interested in the next-best-thing in aromatic whites, and how cares what its called – so long as it tastes good?
I have chosen a version from each side of the fence on this one to recommend.
From Australia, my flavour of the moment is Jim Irvine’s Albarino/Sauvignee Blanc from the Barossa.
From Spain – the source of the Scandal – Eidos de Padrinan Albarino 2008 from Spain.
As a twin pack in a history lesson its loads more fun than learning about the Magna Carta any day…
I manage an online wine e-tail portal in Singapore – servicing most of South East Asia. Our specialty is New World Wines into Singapore, Hong Kong and China. robert@wineexchangeasia.com
The Australian wine index tells that what exactly is a fine wine – it is a nebulous area to provide a definitive assessment on the quality of wine due to varied personal preference. However, a fine wine must meet certain base objective requirements.
Balance in a wine is determined by these key elements:
* Flavour – acidity and sweetness(if present), oak (if present),
* Tannin, and
* Alcohol
Balanced wines bear the greatest potential for cellaring. They will also mix well with food and have a smaller chance of providing fatigue to the palate.
This could be described as the “shape” of the wine or how it feels in your mouth. Wines with a good structure often have a front, mid and back palate that is well defined. The cellaring of fine wine- the Australian wine index: – The cellaring of wines before consumption allows for the complexity of aromas and flavours to emerge and for palate integration. Although many wines are capable of ageing the duration successfully, cellared wines do vary.
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This variety also extends to each vintage. When to drink a wine is part of fine wine appreciation and is highly dependent on personal preference. A preference for wines that are fruity with vivid acidity and tannin would lead to a shorter ageing process. The converse would be to age a wine longer for a softer more complex wine. Regular assessment ensures a wine is not overdeveloped.
Ideal cellaring conditions for fine wine includes:
* A constant temperature between 14°C – 16°C / 55°F – 60°F
* A relative humidity between 70-75%
* Dry, dark, odour-free conditions with good ventilation
The Australian wine index garbs the best fine wine of Australia! And tells us why…. The average price of investment quality Australian wine is much lower than that of investment quality Bordeaux wine. For example, one might spend up to S,500 for a case of vintage 2005 Bordeaux from Chateau LaTour or Chateau Margaux, but the same amount will garner over half a barrel of the Tahbilk 1860 Vines Shiraz, a blue chip wine from Australia.
Australia’s finest glories are the great, classic old vine cuvées of Shiraz and Grenache from South Australia, particularly those from the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, and Clare Valley. Cooler years such as 2002 and 2004 have produced more streamlined, restrained wines that may even be mistaken for some of their counterparts produced in the cool micro-climates of Western Europe. Another myth about Australian wines is that they all taste alike.
There are completely different styles of wine made in Barossa as there are in McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Eden Valley, Heathcote, and the far-flung Western Australian regions of Margaret River or Frank land River. The Australian wine index has as much diversity in wine quality and styles as anywhere in the world…
(AWI) was opened to respond to the increased demand for fine wine in the Asia Pacific region. AWI is dedicated to sourcing the most sought after wines found in Australia. We have forged strong ties with vineyards throughout Australia, and are able to acquire the latest and best-known Australian fine wines at competitive prices.
New website Online Wine Auctions (http://www.onlinewineauctions.com.au) officially launched today. Its mission? To change the way Australians buy wine.
The auction site uses php technology and Ebay’s massive auction inventory to bring visitors an always on, niche wine-only auction site. By utilising the Ebay Partner Network, Online Wine Auctions has access to Australia’s largest inventory of wines, with auctions running 24 hours a day and new auctions starting and ending daily from all around the country.
Some of the benefits of online wine auctions should be obvious–for one, they make rare or vintage wines exceedingly easy to find–while other benefits may b e surprising. Online Wine Auctions have access to a greater selection of wines than any brick and mortar store in the world, and at prices often below wholesale. From tracking down rare vintage wines to saving a few dollars on the usual, it’s easy at auction.
Using standised wine category structure it is easy to browse the most popular wines. But the search function is where it really comes into its own. Simply enter any keyword, be it a brand, year, style or region, and matching wine results populate the page.
For example, Penfolds Grange – one Australia’s most coveted collectible wines is available in many vintages and styles, ranging in price from $ 50.00 to $ 100,000.00 (for a 12 Litre 1997 Balthazar). A collector can pick up a very fine bottle at a fraction of the retail price or may get lucky on a bottle that has slipped under the radar.
On the other side of the scale there are many a bargain to be found, including 12 bottles of cleanskin from just $ 10.00.
The site also carries an impressive range of accessories, ranging from bottle openers, to wine racks and serious wine cooler cellar fridges.
The complete range of wines currently featured include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Rose, Shiraz, Red Wine Blends, Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Sparkling White Wine, Verdelho, White Wine Blends, Champagne, Port Wine, Mixed lots and Cleanskins.
For more information see Online Wine Auctions at http://www.onlinewineauctions.com.au or contact us by email.
What makes a hunter valley tour special is the fact that while enjoying wine day tours you do not have to bother about drinking and then driving. Thus, you get plenty of relaxation while enjoying the wine, food and scenery. Hunter valley is at the manageable distance of 160 kilometers from the capital of Australia. Roughly it takes two hours to drive to this place from Sydney vide Sydney tours.
Boutique tours or winery tours are flexible and can easily be customized according to the wants and needs of travelers. Normally day tours around Sydney start early in the morning and offer a complimentary pick-up from the hotel you are staying at or from any convenient location in the city. Sydney luxury tours or provide you with a fourteen seat tourist vehicle. The comfortable journey of two hours takes you to the wine paradise. During the journey the guide of Sydney wine tours explains the detailed winery options that will be offered to you. He also makes you aware about the history of Australia, its culture and its wines. Some quality boutique tours Sydney and also provide a DVD presentation using onboard television. These presentations help in exploring wine industries in Hunter Valley as well as in the rest of Australia. Most of the hunter valley tours make a halt on the way so that the travelers can stretch their legs as well as grab some snacks.
Hunter valley wine tours being flexible in nature can easily be customized to suit the tourists. Tourists are at the liberty of giving their suggestions regarding wine-styles and wineries. But it is always better to go with the expert knowledge of the tour guide in order to make the best out of your hunter valley wine tour. The lower hunter valley contains more than 80 cellars and boutique wineries and it sounds good enough to make the day special and memorable.
Countless varieties are grown in this region and some of the finest include Chardonnay, Semillon, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, etc. The most esteemed Wineries located in this area are Peppers Creek, Tyrrell’s Vineyards, Lindemans, Rosemount Estate, Wyndham Estate and Lake’s Folly. Most of the Sydney wine tasting on wine day tours is absolutely free and even significantly large groups can be catered if the booking has been done in advance. Other remarkable features of Sydney luxury tours include bicycling, ballooning, sampling fine local chocolates and cheeses, gourmet picnicking using local produce and horse riding.
For more information related to , winery tours, wine tours Australia, boutique tours, sydney wine tour please visit:
It’s true that real sommeliers don’t often think Australian wines when considering the finest vineyards in the world. However, believe it or not, Australia is the fourth-largest exporter of wine in the world, with some 105 million gallons of wine exported per year. That’s over 400,000,000 liters, for you non U.S. readers! And with as many liters they export, Australians also typically consume just as much wine themselves as they export! Obviously there must be something high-quality about the wines from Australia if there are over 200 million gallons of it consumed every year! Let’s look at some very interesting facts about these wines that are appreciated the world over.
One of the reasons that Australian wines do so well is the climate of this continent. While it may have been somewhat difficult to work around by those who first began cultivating grapes for wines, they soon learned how to adapt to the climate and found themselves successfully growing a large variety of grapes for some very fine wines. This selection typically includes Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Riesling. These wines are always made from imported grapes as the continent has no native grapes of its own. The fact that Australian vineyard owners could adapt themselves to an unfamiliar climate with foreign grapes to become the fourth-largest exporter of wine in the world shows their dedication to the science and art of wine making.
Award Winners
The Australian label Penfolds Grange has won more than 50 gold medals in the past fifty or so years since its inception. The 1971 won first prize at the Wine Olympics in Paris; the 1990 was named ‘Red Wine of the Year’ by the Wine Spectator magazine in 1995. Some wine critics have called this “the world’s most exotic and concentrated wine,” beating out many famous wines of France and Italy.
Many other Australian wines have held their own in wine competitions around the world and have been recognized by wine critics and enthusiasts alike.
Their Ups and Downs
There were many years when wines vineyards of Australia were plagued by phylloxera, a small pest that infests vineyards. When they finally overcame this infestation, vineyards were typically producing sweet and fortified wines. Because of their popularity, the government of Australia actually paid growers to pull their vines in order to level the market. This has been repeated in recent years as there has been an oversupply and short sales.
However, with the rise in popularity of organic products, Australian wines have once again gained their popularity. Many vineyards now are finding that their demand is increasing for organic and biodynamic wines, and their upsurge is once again returning. Australia has even hosted the International Biodynamic Wine Forum that includes organic and biodynamic vineyard owners from around the world.
David Cowley has created numerous articles on Wines. He has also created a Web Site dedicated to wine information. Visit
Like Australian people, the array of Australian wines is quite fascinating. All wines, sparkling or otherwise, red, rose or white are unique to the region where it is made, and the winemaker who crafts the wine. Australian wine has come a long way from when the first wine was available for sale domestically in 1820. A wide variety of wines, sparkling reds and whites, dry and blends are produced here.
The country’s winemakers also have many awards and gold medals to their credit. In the 1873 Vienna Exhibition the French judges, tasting blind, praised some wines from Victoria, in Australia, but withdrew in protest when the origin of the wine was revealed, on the grounds that wines of that quality must clearly be French. Australian wines continued to win high honors in French competitions and still continue to dominate the wine-world in a big way.
Australian wine is a new-world wine -producing nation, whereas the European countries are considered the ‘Old world’ wine producing nations. Australia produces a wide array of wines, and is the fourth largest producer of wines in the world. Learning about Australian wine is easy and not complex as is the case with European wine. All Australian wines show the contents and origin clearly on their labels (often front and back), and the varieties used and the basic character of the wine. Many will also suggest the best foods to complement the wine, or the other way around!
Red wines have their deep colour due to the process in which the grapes are crushed along with their skins and seeds, allowing the pigmentation to enter to the juice, whereas white wines are made with the skins separated immediately after crushing. Australia produces superior red wine and this is attributed to the grape variety used.
A popular grape variety is Shiraz, which apart from giving consistent full-bodied wines with fascinating deep crimson colour, is famous for its rich ripe plum and pepper flavours. Other famous red wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, the classic red variety of Bordeaux. Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be medium to full bodied, and are always well structured and elegant with pungent typically leafy like flavours. Other red wines are Merlot that is a softer with a ‘rose petal’ like flavor, Grearche , which is highly perfumed and soft, and Pinot Noir which is one of Australia’s greatest sparkling wines.
Among Australia’s white wines, the most popular is unquestionably Chardonnay, which is also the most important white grape variety around the world. Chardonnay in Australia produces sparkling and dry white wine styles with ripe melon flavours in warmer regions, and more peach and citrus like in the cooler areas. The oak flavour greatly complements the fruit flavors of Chardonnay and drunk after a maturation of 1-3 years. The other popular white varieties are Reisling, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, which is well-known for its perfumed, and delicate light bodied flavors. Like Australia, its wines seem to say, “Just enjoy!”
James Copper is a writer for where you can find information on