Australian Wine Essay Example for Free

Australian Wine Essay The Australian Wine industry is one of the largest exporters of wine around the world. Wine is produced in every state. There is approximately 160,000 hectares under vine, about 2500 wineries and 8000 growers. Australia’s wine regions are mainly in the southern, cooler parts of the country, with vineyards located in South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. South Australia produces over 50% of all Australian wine. The wine regions in these states produce different wine varieties and styles which take advantage of the particular Terroir such as climatic differences and soil types. The common wine is blended wine especially red wine. E. g. Grenache Syrah Mouvedre (GSM) One example of multi-state blend is Cabernet Syrah. Cabernet is from South Australia and the Syrah is from Victoria. First vines arrived from Cape of Good Hope to New South Wales by Governor Philip on the First Fleet (1788). First attempt at wine making from these vines failed, but other settlers managed to successfully cultivate vines for winemaking. The first vineyard was established at Parramatta by a German settler, Philip Schaffer in 1791. The very first Australian vintage is in 1795. Early Australian winemakers faced many difficulties and problems due to the unfamiliar Australian climate. In 1880s Australia was struck by Phylloxera. South Australia survived the well as lot of the land was resistant to the Aphid. Australian wine was available for sale domestically by the 1820s and during this time Gregory Blaxland became the first person to export Australian wine, and was the first winemaker to win an overseas award. There are 2 distinct weather patterns. Firstly, the spring rains, dry summers, average temperature of 25-35 degrees Celsius and some maritime influences affects West Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. Secondly, the tropical based systems bring higher temperatures and higher humidity from the north. It affects mainly New South Wales and northern territories. The low cloud in New South Wales is an advantage to grape growing. The modern challenges are drought, fire and flood. The red varietals are Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot noir. The White varietals are Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Australia has no native grapes, and Vitis vinifera varieties were introduced from Europe and South Africa. Some varieties have been bred by Australian viticulturalists. E. g. Cienna and Tarrango. About 130 different grape varieties are used by commercial winemakers. Australian winemaking results have been remarkable and it has established standard number of varietals, such as Chardonnay and Shiraz.