FOOD & WINE
- Introduction
- Australia Culinary Experience
- History
- New South Wales
- Victoria
- South Australia
- Tasmania
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Australia
HISTORY OF THE WINE & GRAPE INDUSTRY
The Wine and Grape Industry in Australia has a long and interesting history. The first vines arrived in Australia in 1788, and after an unsuccessful planting at Farm Cove (the site of the present Sydney Botanical Gardens), were transplanted to Parramatta, west of Sydney.
Wine growing and making didn't really take off at this time due to various difficulties such as problems with growing conditions and storage. A shipment of vines later on from France proved more successful and Australia began shipping wine overseas (mainly to Britain) from the early 1800's. It also seems that quality wine wasn't actually produced and transported until the early part of the 1900's due to technical innovations in the industry.
By the mid 1820s, Australian wine production had reached some 90 thousand litres. At about this time, Australian wines began to win medals at European wine fairs.
As European settlement spread over the Australian continent, so did the planting and propagation of the vine. By the turn of the century, Australia had become a major supplier to the United Kingdom with annual shipments approaching 4.5 million litres of mainly full bodied, dry red wines.
By the end of World War II, Australia was producing 117 million litres of wine per year. The waves of post-war migrants from continental European countries who brought with them their well-established wine culture pushed the Australian industry into further growth.
The industry's success has been the result of development of new grape growing areas (Australia has large tracts of superior grape-growing land), a rigorous show system to set the standards for quality, and continuously improving vineyard practices, winemaking techniques, and equipment.
South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales (in Australia's southeast quarter) are the largest producers, accounting for 98% of wine grape production. Western Australia and Tasmania have smaller wine industries which are growing rapidly in both volume and quality. Some highly reputed wine areas are Margaret River in Western Australia, Coonawarra, Padthaway, Barossa, and McLaren Vale in South Australia, Yarra Valley in Victoria, and Hunter Valley in New South Wales.
The hallmarks of Australian wines are generous flavour, forward complexity, and balance.
