australia wine – a beginner's guide

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Part of The Pocket Sommelier Series

This is a preview of Australia Wine – A Beginner’s

Guide.

This guide contains over 40 pages on Australia’s wine

history, grapes, regions and wine law.

To download a copy of the complete version, visit

http://pocketsommelier.blogspot.com.

If you have any questions, please contact Pocket at

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AUSTRALIA WINE – A BEGINNER’S GUIDE

Part of The Pocket Sommelier Series

The Pocket Sommelier, 2009

No part of this book may be transmitted in any form by any

means without permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN 978-0-9811374-1-4

Published by The Pocket Sommelier

Ottawa ON

pocketsommelier.blogspot.com

CONTENTS

1 - INTRODUCTION……………………………..……

1

2 - HISTORY……………………………….…….…….

4

3 - GRAPES & WINE STYLES.....…….………..……..

7

4 - MAJOR GROWING REGIONS…………..………..

14

5 - LABELING REGULATION…………...…...………

42

AUSTRALIA WINE – A Beginner’s Guide

1 - INTRODUCTION

The Australian Experience

Australia has a unique wine industry. Much like other “New

World” wine regions around the globe, it has little to no

culture of regulating grape growing and winemaking. Loose

regulation, coupled with geographic isolation, has allowed

Aussie winemakers to develop their own state of the art

techniques and to craft fresh, every day, “easy drinking”

styles focused on simple fruit flavour for the mass market.

Consumers can count on Australian wine to be of consistent

quality. A strict dedication to sanitization and modern

methods prevents the infection of unwanted environmental

influences during winemaking. In addition, a constant

climate and the practice of blending grapes in central

locations, often sourced from different locations of vast

distances apart, reduces any variation from vintage to

vintage.

Leaders in promoting “varietal” specific wines to the mass

market, initially with easy drinking styles of Chardonnay and

Cabernet Sauvignon and eventually Shiraz, Australia still

boasts a diversity of wine styles, from dry table wine, to

sparkling, to fortified dessert wines.

As the world’s sixth largest producer and fourth largest

exporter, Australia is still a relative new comer to the

international stage. The international market for Australian

wines did not exploded until the late 1980s and most

wineries in Australia are less than 30 years old.


2 - HISTORY

From meager beginnings

Viticulture of any sort first appeared on the Australian

continent near the end of the 18th

century. Captain Arthur

Phillip, the first governor of New South Wales, was

instrumental in the development of the first vineyards on the

outskirts of Sydney, bringing with him Australia’s first grape

vines from the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.

Early viticulture in Australia had its challenges. A land with

no native species of grapes, it was inhabited by British

colonialists with no knowledge of the vine and with a

preference for ale and spirits. The skill and market for early

Australian wine just did not exist at the time.

The Australian wine scene finally started to develop in 1820,

when James Busby, after touring vineyards in Spain and

France, brought with him 362 different varietals and a wealth

of grape growing knowledge. His many travels to and from

Europe demonstrated that Australian wine could travel and

potentially supply foreign markets.

By the mid-19th

century, Australian vineyards had developed

to a commercial level, albeit a small one, in Sydney and

further north in the Hunter Valley. At the same time, activity

in Victoria and Western Australia took root. However, it was

in South Australia where the foundations of a serious

commercial wine industry began, in large part thanks to strict

quarantine restrictions on the movement of plant material

that protected the state’s vineyards from the phylloxera

epidemic of the 1870s.


3 – GRAPES & WINE STYLES

Australia has no native species of grapevines - its diverse

selection of vine stock was sourced from outside the country.

The popular “international varietals” dominate Australia,

with no plantings of hybrids or crossings.

WHITE WINES

Chardonnay

Australia’s most-produced white grape variety is

synonymous with luscious, full-bodied Chardonnay packed

with oak-injected vanilla and butterscotch flavours.

Australian exports of this style of Chardonnay have been

invading the wine retail world since the 1980s.

The typical Australian style is big and ripe. The grapes

develop high sugar levels in the hot and dry climate – an

alcohol level reaching 14% is not uncommon. Acidity in the

grapes lost during ripening is commonly restored through the

addition of tartaric acid during fermentation.

Pairing this style of wine with food can be a challenge, due

to its tendency to overpower anything in its wake. A good

rule of thumb is to steer clear of lighter dishes. Seafood in

cream sauce, or even grilled steak, would be appropriate.

For fans of this style, Chardonnay from the Barossa Valley

in South Australia, will certainly satisfy. Most of the

Chardonnay in the state is vinified as giant blends of grapes

sourced from various growing regions. The goal is to

produce, year after year, wines of consistency, as opposed to


wine that exhibits particular characteristics of vintage or

place.

Contrary to this style, Chardonnay from cooler regions, such

as Margaret River in Western Australia and the Yarra Valley

in Victoria, are done in a much finer, subtle, food-friendly

Chablis-style.


RED WINES

Cabernet Sauvignon

Australia’s Cabernet Sauvignon wines typify the so-called

“New World” style of winemaking –wines with “high drink

ability”. Generally fruity, juicy, with lots of oak but low on

tannin, these wines are full of intense cassis/blackcurrant

flavours, with a soft, creamy texture.

The state of South Australia is the largest producer, with the

Barossa Valley as its flagship region. Also in South

Australia, the Coonawarra region has established itself as a

unique place for Cabernet. Its terra rosa coloured soils are

credited with providing its Cabernet with distinctive

chocolate and mocha characteristics.

If the “fruit bomb” version of Cabernet Sauvignon is not

your style, the Yarra Valley in Victoria is producing a less

intense version, complete with hints of mint, more similar to

the Cabernet of Bordeaux.

Shiraz

Shiraz, as it is called in Australia, is genetically the same

grape as the Rhône Valley’s Syrah. The differences between

the two arise from the unique growing conditions, cultural

practices and vinification techniques found in Australia.


Australia has the oldest “Syrah” grapes in the world. Planted

in the late-nineteenth century in excess in South Australia,

these vines were fortunate to escape the ravages of the

phylloxera epidemic. Until 20 years ago, these vines were

actually considered a pest, but efforts in producing world

class wines from them has paid off.

European-style Syrah tends to be more “spicy”, with black

pepper and sharp tannins, whereas the Australian-style is

more “fruit forward” and jammy, with lots of plum and

blackberry, not to mention toffee and chocolate aromas. It is

sweet and rich, with a creamy mouth feel.

The Barossa Valley in South Australia is the source of

Penfolds Grange, the benchmark wine for Australian Shiraz.


4 - MAJOR GROWING REGIONS

Australia has 27 wine zones, broken down into 60 wine

regions and further into many more wine sub-regions and

districts. We will focus on the major wine producing areas,

the most important being the five “must know” regions of

the Barossa Valley, Hunter Valley and the emerging regions

of Margaret River, Yarra Valley and Coonawarra.

NEW SOUTH WALES

New South Wales has a diverse range of climates from

coastal to desert to alpine. Wine regions have been

established west along the Great Dividing Range, inland

along the Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers, and north into

the subtropics. An important state in terms of diversity of

wines produced, New South Wales still consumes more wine

than it produces.

Hunter Valley

Located just 130 km north of Sydney, the Hunter Valley is

New South Wales’ premium wine region, yet is responsible

for less than 3% of the Australia’s production. Its close

proximity to this major urban area has provided the

conditions for the development of a thriving wine tourism

industry.

When speaking of the Hunter Valley, it is usually referred to

in terms of its two main components: the Lower Hunter and

the Upper Hunter.


The Lower Hunter has a subtropical climate, with very hot

and humid summers complete with heavy rainfall. It is not

an ideal climate for grape growing, however, the afternoon

cloud cover provides some relief from the heat. The valley

vineyard soil is composed of red volcanic loam with alluvial

sands and silts. Also found in the area is basalt, which

provide the wines with a mineral flavour. This is a white

wine growing region.

The benchmark wine here is made of Semillon. The grapes

are usually picked early, before fully ripening. This

produces a grassy, citrus wine in youth, which eventually

ages into a green-gold colour, with toasty and mineral

aromas and a complex flavour profile of honey, butter and

nut. This wine is dry and long-lived, with alcohol content as

low as 10% alc/vol.

Also found here is soft, peachy Chardonnay, in a full bodied

style. The Verdelho is soft and flavourful, and is making a

comeback in this region.

Moderate in tannin, the Shiraz is soft, with aromas of plum,

jam, spice, earth and tar, with a lengthy finish. In better

vintages the wines can be age-worthy, developing leathery

notes and a silky texture. Cabernet Sauvignon is not an

important varietal here – it just does not do well with the

rain.

In contrast to the Lower Hunter, the Upper Hunter is a much

drier region. Chardonnay is big here, established in the

1970s by Rosemount. Also common is Semillon, grown on

sandy, alluvian soil.


Central Ranges

The Central Ranges is a major growth area in New South

Wales and is located on the western side (inland) of the

Great Dividing Range. Compared to the Hunter Valley, the

vineyards are planted at higher elevations and are exposed to

a cooler continental climate.

Mudgee

The climate here is cooler and drier than the Hunter Valley.

It is one of the oldest wine regions in Australia - plantings

here were established in the mid-19th

century but were never

hit by the phylloxera epidemic. Mudgee is red wine country,

producing deeply coloured and intensely flavoured Cabernet

Sauvignon and Shiraz. It is also home to a virus-free clone

of Chardonnay.

Orange

The vineyards are located on hillsides planted in volcanic

soil at a high altitude. Orange is one of the coolest grape

growing areas in New South Wales. The warm days and

cool nights result in grapes with lots of natural acidity .

Orange’s Chardonnay is zesty and lively. Cabernet

Sauvignon is also produced, along with some Merlot and

Shiraz.


VICTORIA

Victoria is Australia’s most varied state in terms of wine

production. Up until the end of the 19th

century, Victoria

was on par with New South Wales and South Australia for

quantity, until phylloxera wiped out most of its industry.

Victoria has since recovered to boast over 600 wineries, but

still ranks third in overall wine production due to the lack of

a mass bulk wine-producing area.

Murray Darling and Swan Hill represent Victoria’s warm

climate regions, situated along the Murray River in the north

west of the state. East along the Murray, is the region of

Rutherglen, home to fortified dessert wines. Victoria’s other

wine regions to the south are generally cooler - the Yarra

Valley region near Melbourne, for example, is producing

delicate, European-style Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Producers looking to expand are shifting more towards the

cooler climates of the region, either south to the sea or into

the hills, in order to produce wines of greater structure.

Central Victoria

Heathcote

Heathcote is a premier wine region. The region has a

temperate climate with vines planted on ancient Cambrian

soil (decompressed igneous greenstone turned red brown

over time). The Shiraz here is rich and deeply coloured, with

alcohol content reaching 14% to 15 % alc/vol.


5 – LABELING REGULATIONS

Australia does not have a history of any strict “appellation

system” similar to those that exist in Europe. The current

system, implemented in the 1990s, was developed solely to

conform to the European Union’s export regulations.

The Australian appellation system is based on the concept of

Geographical Indication (GI). A GI is an official description

of an Australian wine “zone”, “region”, or “sub-region”

designed to protect the use of the regional name under

international law. It’s similar to the system in Europe, but

much less restrictive in terms of viticultural and winemaking

practices.

There are three principles to the system:

- where a variety is specified, 85% of the wine is made of

that grape;

- where a region is specified, 85% of the wine is made from

grapes originating from that region;

- where a vintage is specified, 85% of the wine is made from

grapes from that vintage.

In instances where more than one grape (or region) is

specified, they are listed in descending order. For example, a

wine specified as “Cabernet – Shiraz” will have more

Cabernet than Shiraz.

The Pocket Sommelier Australia Wine – A Beginner’s Guide

The Pocket Sommelier – 2009

Ottawa ON

pocketsommelier.blogspot.com

ISBN 978-0-9811374-1-4

australia wine – a beginner's guide

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