Although Australia’s history of viticulture is relatively short—vines arrived on the continent with the First Fleet of British prisoners in 1788—the country has made its mark on the global wine market and is now a huge exporter of both its wines and its winemaking methodology.
In its earliest days as an English penal colony, Australia’s winemaking suffered from little expertise. However, free settlers from Europe began to arrive, spurred by the promise of gold, and the vine flourished, spreading from New South Wales throughout the southeast by 1850. Over 6000 liters of wine was exported to Britain by 1854. A burgeoning population thirsted for wine in the colony as well, and many small wineries sprung up throughout New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia to meet the new demand. Penfolds and Lindemans, two of Australia’s most recognizable brands—both are now owned by Treasury Wine Estates—launched during this early period. However, as the easily extractable surface and stream deposits of gold depleted, many prospectors followed, and domestic demand for wine fell. Lowered demand, coupled with restrictive state trade barriers, led some producers to export to survive, whereas others remained small and localized—a division that exists, in exacerbated form, to this day. Economic recession and phylloxera befell Australia in the latter half of the 19th century, further harming the industry, but officials took strict and immediate measures to combat the spread of phylloxera, confining it to Victoria and a portion of New South Wales. While the root louse decimated the Victorian wine industry—Australia’s most important wine area in the late 1800s—it cleared the way for South Australia to emerge as the continent’s largest region of production. A second key factor in South Australia’s
As of 2014, it looks like Merlot has taken over as Hawke's Bay's most planted grape: 1,080ha for Merlot over Chardonnay's 1,006ha. Straight from www.nzwine.com/.../ .
Fantastic study guide. I was a little surprised at the lack of attention given to Martinborough as their Pinot Noirs are largely seen, in New Zealand, as the leaders, especially in average price and overall average quality.
Brandon, did you read through the whole study guide? We mention Pernod Ricard's ownership.
Brancott Estate is the most common of the former Montana's brands in the US.
From some sources online, it appears that Montana, NZ's largest wine company, has been bought several times and now operates under the name Pernod-Ricard NZ. Can anyone confirm or deny this since Montana is mentioned throughout the New Zealand study guide? Is the name Montana still being used? It looks like there is a winery named Montana Gisborne Winery under Pernod-Ricard NZ's umbrella.
OK all, I had a phone call with Colin Campbell, winemaker of Campbells in Rutherglen, who walked me through the "classification" process of Muscat. Keep in mind it is voluntary, and style designations are awarded by a tasting panel of the winemakers in the region. He confirmed that Muscat should be about 5 years old, Classic 10, Grand 15, and Rare 20 or more, but emphasized that these are non-binding age ranges. He did not really get into sugar ranges at all. He did, however, send me a copy of the Australian Fortified Wine Code of Practice, which defined the categories as such:
Muscat: Base classification. The wines should be a younger style showing fresh fruit characters and integration of spirit.
Terms such as “Barossa Muscat or “Rutherglen Muscat” may be used where this is consistent with the Fortified Wine Code of Practice.
Classic: A maturing style exhibiting raisined fruit flavour, cask aged flavour and the beginnings of rancio character. The palate shows balanced lusciousness, richness on the mid-palate from cask ageing and some concentrated characters.
Grand: A mature style exhibiting aged fruit flavour, rich cask aged character and rancio character. The palate shows balanced lusciousness, rich mid-palate from cask ageing, concentrated flavours from ageing and rancio flavours.
Rare: A rancio style showing all the flavours of prolonged cask ageing – lusciousness, extreme rancio and concentration.
So, keep in mind that all of these age ranges, sugar ranges, etc. are just approximations. The imprint on the palate is what is important!