Adelaide is the wine capital of Australia - and one of the 11 Great Wine Capitals of the World, along side Bordeaux in France, Napa Valley in the US and Bilbao Rioja in Spain. The network of global wine capitals share a common asset: their internationally renowned wine regions.
Western Australia is known for producing some of the most elegant wines in the country, and Margaret River is the state's most famous wine region. Surrounded on three sides by ocean and sitting atop some of the world's oldest soils, the wines that are produced here are exceptional.
The largest wine production region by far is South Australia. One major city in South Australia is home to the Australian Wine Research Institute (awri). AWRI is responsible for much of the world's research on dry farming techniques and commercial wine operations.
The National Wine Centre of Australia is next to Adelaide's Botanic Gardens in the north east corner of the city centre. Take a scenic walk through the Botanic Gardens and enter either via the pedestrian entrance on Botanic Road — the extension to North Terrace — or from our main entrance on Hackney Road.
Berri Estates is the largest winery in the Southern Hemisphere. It is celebrating 100 years of being one of the Riverland's largest employers. The winery crushes around 30 per cent of South Australia's annual grape crush.
Established in 1849, Yalumba is Australia's oldest family owned winery.
“Ballarat has a renowned history as being a pub town – in 1870 boasting over 500 pubs in the district as a result of the Gold Rush. “It is also well known for the brew “Ballarat Bertie” which unfortunately is only made now in special batches. It was last brewed by the Ballarat Brewing Company in 1989.”
Australia has almost 2000 wine producers, most of whom are small winery operations. The market is dominated by a small number of major wine companies. The largest wineries are the Casella winery in Yenda, NSW (YellowTail wines) and the Berri Estates winery in Glossop, SA.
Bordeaux, World Heritage Site since 2007
World wine capital, the city of Bordeaux looks resplendent in its 18th-century grandeur. UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in 2007.
California is the wine capital of the United States, and by no small margin. In 2021, the state had over four times the number of wineries of the next closest state and was home to a quarter of all wineries in the nation.
The Barossa Valley in South Australia is one of Australia's oldest and best-known regions for shiraz. Half of the Barossa's vineyard plantings are shiraz. Some of the vines are the oldest in the world, dating back as far as 1843.
Clare Valley-based winery, Taylors Estate, has won the coveted title of International Champion 2022 at a prestigious international contest.
Italy, France, and Spain were the top three producers of wine worldwide as of 2021. That year, France produced about 37.6 million hectoliters of wine. The climate, terrain, and soil quality in which the wine grapes are grown has a major influence on how the wine turns out.
Italy. Italy takes its wine seriously: combine a long history of wine-making (all the way back to Greek colonization) with an ideal climate and over a million vineyards, and you can see why Italy takes the top spot as the world's wine producer.
' Shiraz is still king – it absolutely dominates the Aussie red category, as you'll discover in the list of winners below – but there's a growing appreciation for Mediterranean varieties, such as Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Barbera and Grenache.
The alcohol beverages most commonly consumed by Australians are bottled wine (34%), regular strength beer (19%), and bottled spirits/liqueur (15%).
James Busby died on July 15, 1871 during a visit to England. He was survived by his wife and three of their six children. While not the first to import or grow vines in Australia, Busby's drive and entrepreneurship in the craft of viticulture has left him a legacy as father of the Australian wine industry.
Hunter Valley – Australia's oldest wine region | Wine Australia.
Canberra is the happiest capital of Australia, according to research.
The Surveyor General Inn – Australia's Oldest Continuously Licensed Inn.
Kiwirrkurra Community, Western Australia
The Kiwirrkurra Community is known as the most remote in the country and is located in the Gibson Desert, nearly 530 miles west of Alice Springs and over 745 miles west of Port Hedland.
Plonk, chardy, and the goon of fortune
Plonk is perhaps Australia's best-known word for alcohol. It originally meant cheap, fortified wine but over time came to mean any cheap alcohol.
5. Oldest Wine in Existence Today: 325-350 AD Speyer Wine Bottle. Found in 1867 in the tomb of Roman soldier, the Speyer wine bottle is believed to be the oldest wine in existence.
SYDNEY—Three years ago, the Kilikanoon winery in Australia's picturesque Clare Valley appeared to gain an export advantage when it was bought by Yantai Changyu Pioneer Wine Co., China's largest wine producer.