Having no native vines itself, the first vineyards in Australia were planted in Farm Cove with vines from Rio de Janeiro and the Cape of Good Hope in 1788. This was a great place for grapes, but not for the purpose of making wine, so they tried Parramatta instead (just north of Sydney) to much success.
(This article was written for GrapeBunch, our weekly wine periodical. Click here to read the original!)
Now this is an entertaining story: Upon the realization of a possible wine industry in Australia, England sent two French prisoners of war there to help it get off the ground; both to serve three years in New South Whales for their freedom. The thought was that, hey, they're French so they must know how to make wine! Whelp, they didn't. One was so awful at it that he was sent back to England. The other had some history with making cider, but messed up big time when he somehow ended up using peaches instead of apples. Oof.
The Australian wine industry began commercial production in the 1820's thanks to Italian, Silesian, Dalmation, and Swiss immigrants. Because its main consumers were in the export market with a long ways to travel, most of it was fortified, and that continued for most of the 20th century. The Australians called these sweet dessert wines "Stickies". I've got one featured further down in the "Let's Get Niche-y" section.
But there were also world class non-fortified wines being made, gaining respect and winning awards. Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay arrived in the 1970's, as well as the boutique winery.
In the 1990's we saw Australia take a heavily branded approach with what they called the "Strategy 2025" initiative; their goal being to become "the world's most influential and profitable supplier of branded wines". Mass amounts of wine were bought at low cost, branded and marketed under one umbrella, and then sold at low cost to consumers. This created a massive boom to the Australian wine industry, and the export market loved it. A few decades later, consumers got fatigued by this approach and sales declined drastically. Even the mention that a wine was Australian scared them off.
There is nothing to be scared of with Australian wine, though, as they make fantastic wines! Mostly known for their reds such as Shiraz (their name for Syah), Cabernet Sauvignon, and "GSMs" (a Rhone style blend made of Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvèdre), they also make delicious white wines. Australian Chardonnay was an extremely popular phenomenon during the Aughts and is still a cornerstone of Australian wine. I'm a huge fan of Australian Riesling, and their Sauvignon Blanc is a contrasting style of the varietal to New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.
Of course, Shiraz is the varietal most people think of when Australian wine is brought up, and it was first planted there in 1831. Shiraz is indeed the same grape as Syrah BUUUUUT there are differences in style, which is why you'll see wines from California be labeled either Syrah or Shiraz. This decision is made by the winery to tell you if it's more like a French Syrah or an Australian Shiraz. Syrah has big tannin and complex with violet, spices, and leather, while Shiraz has softer tannin, it's jammy, and fruit forward with berries and chocolate. Both of them feature the trademarked black pepper of the varietal. To learn much more about Syrah and Shiraz, read our feature on the varietal here.
Most of the wine in Australia is made in the south east of the continent. The South Australia region produces the most and contains regions you may be aware of: Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley, and McLaren Vale. Victoria contains Yarra Valley, and New South Wales contains Hunter Valley. Queensland is north of New South Wales. Those are all on the south east, but there is also Western Australia (not shown on the map above)! This contains Margaret River, famous for their absolutely wonderful Chardonnay (which I'm daydreaming about right now).
Shoofly Shiraz has bright acidity and grippy tannin with notes of plum, blueberry, anise, and black pepper. Pairing: Bison burger with gouda cheese.
Joey Casco
Beverage Marketer
Certified Specialist of Wine
Certified Specialist of Spirits
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