A popular opinion that Australian wines are "amazing; like sunshine in a glass" is quite true.
These wines are incredibly versatile and complicated, as well as their regions of origin. Wine grapes are mostly grown on artificially irrigated grounds because they grow on a desert land. In winter almost all vineyards are enveloped in snow. That’s why here lies one of the world’s best moderately cool winemaking territories. Over 1000 small and middle-sized wineries make wine in Australia. Australian wines are generally characterized by openness, softness and clear fruit flavours. It is because of these properties gourmets from the world over have fallen for these wines.
Colonial winemaking
According to the documents, the first Australian vineyard in New South Wales was founded in 1788. A winemaking pioneer of the time was Arthur Phillip, first Governor-General of an English colony, Captain of the British Royal Navy. First crops turned out very successful indeed. With this in mind, and also because of constant conflicts with France, the main wine exporter, the British government decided to develop winemaking in the colony. To do that, two French prisoners of war had been sent to Australia. In return for their freedom they were told to teach the locals winemaking basics in three years. The French, however, didn’t justify hopes, and the Australians took the matter into their own hands. In 1809 Captain John Macarthur started serious research on French winemaking, and already in 1820 he began producing Australian wines for sale. Mostly they were cheap fortified wines that the mother country needed at the time.
But the real revolutionary breakthrough was made by Australian winemakers some 40 years ago. Today Australians are justly appreciated all over the world. Being an Australian winemaker is trendy: they’re invited to work for the leading French vineyards, while French oenologists consider working in Australia a great experience.
A word about Australian Shiraz
The total area of Australian vineyards is around 160,000 hectares. Mostly these are located in the cooler South, which is explained by the beneficial influence of the cold Antarctic Ocean current that makes the climate milder.
Production zones haven’t been originally defined in Australia. The wines could be blended at will from different batches of the crop. The main principle was blending the best stuff from different areas. As far as Australian reds are concerned, the production leader is Shiraz, once imported from France. This grape variety allows the winemakers to produce versatile wines. Depending on the region Shiraz can be light, fruity, drinkable, thirst quenching, with notes of white, black or red pepper, a fine match for complicated meat dishes; or concentrated, rich and full-bodied, with leathery and earthy flavours.
Many attempts to systematize the great versatility of Australian Shiraz have led to their stylistic division. The following wines are marked out by the experts:
Popular fruity Shiraz. As a rule, grapes used to produce these wines grow in well-irrigated areas, on fertile soil, mainly in Western Australia. These wines are preferably drunk new.
Shiraz from old Australian vines that grow in the warmest parts of the continent on less fertile soils. They’re characterized by a concentrated and deep flavour.
Peppery Shiraz. These wines are made in cooler parts of Australia. They’re often compared with wines from the Northern Rhone Valley. The grapes are low yielders characterized by a prolonged ripening period, which gives them a flavour of white and black pepper.
Wines with leathery and earthy notes. For a long time these’ve constituted the bulk of the Australian wine industry. These wines with rich and rounded fruity flavours are produced in Hunter Valley with its hot and humid climate.
The most famous regions
Barossa Valley – the heart of Australian winemaking. Wines from Shiraz grapes produced here are rounded and store well.
Among the best wineries is Penfolds – in 1990 their Shiraz was named the Best Red in the World by the Wine Spectator; this vineyard’s prestigious wines are hunted down by the connoisseurs. Greenock Creek, Elderton is a small boutique winery whose wines have earned a 5-star rating according to the famous Australian wine critic James Halliday. Glaetzer makes exclusive Shiraz from grapes grown on century-old vines. Powerful and elegant fortified Dutschke wines are also popular, as well as rich and full-bodied wines by Kaesler and Kalleske that have virtually become an icon of Australian winemaking.
Victoria is cooler, the local Shiraz gives noble-coloured wine a red peppery note. A leading winemaking region.
Shiraz from Dalwhinnie is famous because of the vineyard’s tendency to lower the alcohol contents of fully ripened grapes and their infallible quality vintage wines.
Shiraz by Wild Duck Creek Estate has got 96 points in Parker’s rating; it’s one of the most coveted cult wines.
New South Wales and the Hunter Valley – wines from high-quality Shiraz grapes are called Hermitage around here; they carry a recoginizable chocolate and mineral flavour. The most famous winery in the region is Tower Estate that uses the best grapes from their own vineyards and from other regions to produce their wines. The experts say that this Shiraz is aristocratic and European.
Larisa Korobkova
Photoreport
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