Australia wine has a slightly warmer climate and makes more graceful full-bodied wines with a high degree of acidity and alcohol. Wines made in the cooler southeastern part of Australia (Yarra Valley and Adelaide Hills) have more earthy tones and fruity flavours.
A $26 bottle of Australian chardonnay is voted the best wine in the world at prestigious award show. An Australian wine took home the top prize after more than 7,500 wines from around the world were tasted by a panel of judges.
Australia has no native vines. Vinifera (winemaking) grapevines first came to the country in 1788, from South Africa. Today, Australia is famous for its fresh, fruity red and white table wines that are extremely consistent in quality.
Generally, the accepted characterization is that wines from the New World (such as Australia) tend to be more ripe, fruit-forward and round than wines from the Old World (such as France), which might show more structure and non-fruit notes of flint, spice and earth, but there are plenty of exceptions.
The style is different, and it would be foolish to pretend that Australia can equal the wines of the Mosel Valley in terms of quality, but they are nonetheless very good. On the other hand, Tasmania is producing some exceptional botrytis rieslings with levels up to and beyond the sweetness of Auslese.
Australia makes soft fruity wines from well-known varieties that newcomers tend to enjoy, but also more refined styles that appeal to aficionados. It has a free trade deal with China. And a good reputation for food safety. It attracts waves of students and tourists from China who get a taste of the local wines.
In 2021, wine exports from Australia to the United States amounted to over 454 million Australian dollars, making it the leading export destination for Australian wine.
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.
Bright, bold and full of personality, Shiraz is Australia's most popular variety. It grows in almost every wine region of Australia, accounts for one-quarter of total wine production and is our most exported wine.
Known as the wine capital of Australia, Adelaide is surrounded by some of the best wine regions in the country, many of which are just a short drive from the city.
The area around Sydney has the longest history of grape growing in Australia. The original grape vines came with the First Fleet and were planted at Sydney Cove in 1788.
About 60 percent of Australia's wine production, which comes to around 2 million wine bottles, is exported every day from Australia to 111 international markets. This also leads to another fact, stating that people all around the world consume 30 million glasses, and more, of Aussie wines every day.
South Australia is home to some of the oldest continuously producing vineyards in the world, so it's no surprise that its regions are regarded as some of the country's best.
Australia is home to the world's oldest productive Cabernet Sauvignon vines, which were planted in the northern Barossa Valley in 1886. Cabernet Sauvignon can be found across Australia, but two regions stand out as top producers: Coonawarra and Margaret River.
A winery in Australia has beaten some of the most well-known wine regions in the world, claiming the title of Winery of the Year at a prestigious competition. Taylors Wines in Clare Valley, South Australia, was presented the prestigious title at this year's Monterey International Wine Competition in California, USA.
Pinot Noir is rated as the healthiest wine because of the high levels of resveratrol. It is made of grapes with thin skin, has low sugar, fewer calories, and low alcohol content. Sagrantino made in Italy contains the highest concentration of antioxidants and is packed with tannins.
Georgia is generally considered the 'cradle of wine', as archaeologists have traced the world's first known wine creation back to the people of the South Caucasus in 6,000BC. These early Georgians discovered grape juice could be turned into wine by burying it underground for the winter.
Cabernet Sauvignon
Red. This French-origin grape was first made famous by the wines of Bordeaux. Today, Cabernet Sauvignon grows all over the world, including several unexpected places such as Lebanon and China.
Overview: Australian wine - uniquely Australian, fresh, authentic, exciting and internationally competitive. Australia has around 4 per cent of world wine production and is the world's fifth largest wine exporter. It is made up of 65 wine regions, approximately 2500 wineries and over 6000 grapegrowers.
The largest wineries are the Casella winery in Yenda, NSW (YellowTail wines) and the Berri Estates winery in Glossop, SA.
Australia is the 7th largest wine-producing country in the world with 170 000 hectares of vineyards that stretches across four main Australian wine regions: Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. Each region offers a diversity of wines and wine tourism experiences.
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.