On a land mass as big as nearly the Continental United Sates, Australia’s geography hardly seems suitable for viticulture. The northern rim is a tropical climate covered in rainforest, woodland, grassland and mangrove swamp. The massive interior is desert and semi-arid land. Only the southeast and southwest corners of the continent offer temperate climate that is hospitable to vine. And it is here that we find wine produced in quantities sufficient to make Australia the world’s fourth largest exporter of wine.
In his book The Story of Wine, Hugh Johnson writes, “Australia is the France of the Southern Hemisphere; there seems to be no limit its potential (enormously reinforced by modern technology) for producing ideally balanced, delicate wine very much in the French style (though with original touches of its own). But potential has never been enough. Fine wine has only been made at moments in history when the market has asked for it.”
The history of wine is Australia traces back to the establishment of Port Jackson as a convict settlement in 1788. On the site of the present day of Intercontinental Hotel on Macquarie St. in Sydney, Captain Arthur Phillip planted Australia’s first vines.
Early interest in local wine was merely a diversion from what warder and convict desired most: rum from India. The market demanded strong wine… wine that had been fortified with spirits, and production in the early vineyards went almost entirely into making Ports and other high alcohol wines. Strong, lush and sweet… what would be referred to as sticky’s.
It would be a few decades before vintner’s would spread their wings further to Southeastern Australia and to the valleys and areas that would be home to some of the finest wineries of the world: Barossa Valley, Eden Valley, Clare Valley, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra, Victoria and Yarra Valley.
The Aussie preoccupation with Ports, Muscats and Tokays fed into what the British market desired. It didn’t mean that dry reds and whites weren’t being produced. But it would take the efforts of Max Schubert, the winemaker at Penfold’s, who would “rewrite the book” about Australian wine after his visit to the Rhone Valley in 1951. Taken by the brilliance of Hermitage, Cote Rotie and the Syrah based wines of the Northern Rhone, Schubert returned to Penfold’s convinced that these wines could be emulated in Barossa Valley.
He began to tinker with the grape (known as Shiraz in Australia) and produced an “experimental” wine he called Grange. A huge wine, made in a rich fruit abundant style, more than any other wine, Penfold’s Grange caught the attention of the wine world. Grange became a defining wine of what could be produced in Australia.
About Grange Robert Parker has written, “{Grange is} one of the flagship wines of the wine world and the reference point for most Australian winemakers who wanted to produce world class red wine.”
Barossa became to Australia what Napa is California… a wine rich province, home to world class wines. The Estates of Elderton, Glaetzer, Turkey Flat, Amon-Ra, Two Hands and Veritas have all earned international praise for their fabulous reds.
East of Barossa, the higher altitudes of Eden Valley is known for producing some of Australia’s best Rieslings.
Still further to the south and nestled in the Fleurieu Peninsula are the wine estates of McLaren Vale. You would be hard pressed to find a more ideal climate for the cultivation of wine grapes. The coastal zone is bounded to the east by Mount Lofty Ranges and to the immediate west by a temperate sea. There is a long growing season, natural air flow to prevent frost and the ocean supplies a cooling influence. Located in the heart of McLaren Vale, the wines of D’Arenberg are some of the most desired in the world. No private wine cellar would be complete without D’Arenberg’s exceptional Copper Mine Road Cabernet Sauvignon or Dead Arm Shiraz.
If the vineyards of Australia’s southeast are known for the production of Rhone varietals… Shiraz (Syrah), Grenache, Mourvedre and Viognier used for making opulent styled wines; on the other side of the Continent, we find some of the finest wines made from Bordeaux varietals… Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc for reds, and Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon for whites. South of Perth, the Margaret River estates produce wines that possess considerable finesse and elegance that bring to mind to best of wines from the Medoc, St. Emilion and Graves. And Leeuwin Estate consistently makes Chardonnay’s on par with the best from the Cote de Beaune.
If there is a common thread that runs thru the Australian wines that dominate the market, it is drinkability. It is nearly impossible to pick up a glass of Shiraz, “GSM” Blend (Grenache-Shiraz-Mourvedre), Cabernet, Old Vine Grenache, and not want a second glass. Regardless of price, the wines are good to drink… and if you can spend a couple of bucks, the cellar worthy reds are stunning.
The whites run the range from lush Chardonnays, soft Rieslings, lively Sauvignon Blancs and mineral driven Vigoniers.
Yes, the fortified wines that began this excursion are still being produced… but perhaps Australia’s greatest gift to the Wine World is Sparkling Shiraz. This red sparkling wine is totally unique and nearly indescribable. It is the one wine that travelers to “Down Under” come back looking for. A bubbly red that is rich in fruit flavour that leads you to believe that it is sweet (but it isn’t). Across Australia, Sparkling Shiraz is served for Sunday brunch and at backyard barbeques… and Americans are learning that it is a great wine for our Thanksgiving table or for Christmas Day prime rib of beef.
Australian wine? All you have to do is lift a glass and say, g’day!