In thelast 20 years, Australiahas really made its mark in the wine world. The country produces a variety ofwines from a number of wine growing regions and has revolutionised winemakingprocesses, making it a real force to be reckoned with in the wine-growingworld.
Thevast majority of Australian wine comes from South Australia, although Victoria and New South Wales are bothkey players in the country's wine output. Western Australia produces a smaller volumeand has earned itself the reputation of producing more expensive, boutiquequality wines. Look to Tasmaniaif you fancy something sparkling or a little sweeter.
Themost widely planted grapes in Australiaare international varieties. Shiraz,Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are all big on the red front, while Chardonnay,Semillon and Riesling are all popular whites. Alongside these, Australian winemakersare increasingly experimenting with some of the remaining 80 or so grapevarieties that are planted in Australia, meaning that you can expect someinteresting Australian wines to come out of the country in the coming years.
Australia has made its name forproducing most of the big branded wines that are available in the UK. This islargely because land in Australiais plentiful and winemakers don't have the restrictions of space that Europeanwine-makers do. In addition, as the climate doesn't vary much from year toyear, there is little difference between vintages, giving Australian wines adegree of reliability that is impossible to guarantee from Old World countries. However, in an effort to ensure that every bottletastes identical, many of the mass-produced Australian wines will have hadother ingredients, such as additives, added to them. While you can be sure thatthe wine will have been made according to rigorous quality standards, allelements of their uniqueness and soul will have been removed. If you fancysomething a little more authentic, you'll just need to hunt a little deeper. Thereare plenty of small, independent, wineries producing Australian wine for loveand not money.
Australia is at the forefront of innovation and Australian wine-makers haveinvested huge amounts in developing some of the most modern wineries and inre-evaluating their wine producing techniques. Combined, these have allowedAustralian wine-makers to experiment with different grapes and styles. Not onlythis but Australian wine-makers have become champions of producing simplerlabels (which include simply grapes and regions), making it easy for even thebeginner wine enthusiast to understand.
