Australia Flashcards
Australia
General
From post phylloxera to 1960 approx, 80% of production was sweet fortified wines
New technologies (ie bag-in-a-box, stelvin)
Regions
Western Australia South Australia Queensland New South Wales Victoria Tasmania
Australia’s grapes
Grapes Red Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon Grenache Pinot Noir
White Chardonnay Riesling Semillon Sauvignon Blanc Pinot Grigio
Wine Australia
Since 1981
Label Integrity Program for the 1990 vintage, requiring any wines labeled by variety, vintage, or region to contain a minimum 85% of the stated grape, year, or region, respectively.
GIs (geographical appelations)
Superzone
South-Eastern Australia Super Zone: Enormous appellation covering most producing areas.
(South Australia, New Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, and New South Wales)
Penfolds Grange
Penfolds’ iconic “Grange”, a Shiraz debuted by Max Schubert in 1951 as “Grange Hermitage”. Unlike most luxury wines, “Grange”, a renowned wine and one of the first New World collectible bottlings, is generally blended from many vineyards across several regions—a testament to the Australian style.
New South Wales
First vineyards (1788)
The Great Dividing Range
A complex of mountain ranges running along the north-south axis of eastern Australia, separates the wetter coastal areas from the more arid interior.
1/4 of Australia’s wine production
Hunter Valley
Canberra
Riverina
West of the Great Dividing Range
Industrial wine production
Tumbarumba
Hunter
Region
the lower half of the Hunter Valley zone
Semillon or “Hunter Riesling”
Also Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon
New South Wales
Producers
Tyrrell
Clonakilla
Brokenwood
Victoria
smallest and coolest state on the Australian mainland
Coastal Victoria is cooled by sea breezes blowing up from Antarctica
Pinot Noir in Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, and the warmer Geelong region within Port Phillip, as well as those from the coastal Gippsland zone to the east.
Yarra Valley IG
Oldest region in Victoria (for wine). Moet et Chandon are there.
Great Pinot Noir, Shiraz (often co-fermented with Viognier) and Cabernet Sauvignon
Soils: grey-brown sandy loam and red basalt-derived soils
Mornington Peninsula
cooler and windier
Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay
The inland is more continental climate with long diurnal shift, Chardonnay and Shiraz. Very industrial
North East Victoria zone
Rutherglen and Glenrowan
Sweet fortified wines, a dense fortified wine called Topaque is made here, from Muscadelle.
Also in Rutherglen: Brown Muscat (Muscat a petit grains rouge).
The Muscat of Rutherglen Network, a producers’ syndicate established in 1995, has developed a voluntary four-tier classification system for the wines based on age, sweetness, and complexity.
Victoria
Regions
Port Phillip zone:
Mornington Peninsula, Geelong, Yarra Valley,
and Macedon Ranges
Central Victoria zone:
Heathcote, Bendigo and Goulburn Valley
North East Victoria zone:
Rutherglen
Yarra Valley GI (Victoria’s oldest wine region)
Sweet wines from Rutherglen
From Muscat and Muscadelle grapes
(North East Victoria Zone)
Sweet fortified wines, a dense fortified wine called Topaque is made here, from Muscadelle.
Also in Rutherglen: Brown Muscat (Muscat a petit grains rouge).
The Muscat of Rutherglen Network, a producers’ syndicate established in 1995, has developed a voluntary four-tier classification system for the wines based on age, sweetness, and complexity.
Victoria Producers
Yarra Yering
Tahbilk
M. Chapoutier Domaine Tournon
South Australia
Regions
Coonawarra
Mostly flat. Australia’s best Cabernet Sauvignon.
Padthaway GI
North of Coonawarra. Warmer than Coonawarra. White grapes like Riesling, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay.
The newer GIs of Wrattonbully, Robe, Mount Benson, and Mount Gambier compose the remainder of the Limestone Coast regions. Overall, red grapes dominate this cool-climate zone.
Lower Murray
Riverland GI, heavily irrigated, mass production wine.
Fleurieu (fine wine) Mediterranean climate (per the ocean and Lake Alexandrina). Cabernet Sauvignon and Rhône varieties. Shiraz, Grenache, and Mourvèdre (Mataro) show rich, textural, full body and tend toward jam or dried fruit flavors. The three are often blended, although varietal Grenache is resurgent.
Mount Lofty Ranges (fine Riesling)
Adelaide Hills, Adelaide Plains, and Clare Valley.
Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and sparkling wines retain good acidity in the region’s cool maritime climate.
Best Riesling in Clare Valley.
Barossa (fine Shiraz)
Shiraz.
Barossa Valley IG, vines of 150 years old.
Barossa Valley Shiraz is a critical darling: opaque, dense, heavily extracted, and full of dark fruit and chocolate.
South Australia Producers
Penfolds Yalumba Pewsey Vale Wynn’s Peter Lehmann Jim Barry Henschke Grosset Shaw + Smith
Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon
Finest, elegant, red fruits, soft tannins, eucalyptus notes.
The vines enjoy a long, even growing season moderated by frequent cloud cover; spring frost is a chief hazard. Coonawarra is seemingly flat, yet a very slight ridge and the well-drained red “terra rossa” topsoil provides optimal conditions for Cabernet Sauvignon.
Western Australia
Margaret River GI
Chardonnay, Semillon, and Sauvignon Blanc—and blends of the latter two—are successful in the maritime climate, but gravelly, elegant Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux-style red blends.
Great Southern GI, to the east of Margaret River along the southern coastline, is the state’s second-most prominent region.
There are five sub-regions: Mount Barker, Frankland River, Albany, Porongurup, and Denmark.
Mount Barker today excels with cool-climate Riesling, Shiraz, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Western Australia Producers
Vasse Felix
Leeuwin Estate
Riesling zones
Southern Australia
- Mount Lofty Ranges in Clare Valley
Western Australia
- Mount Barker
Tasmania
Coolest wine production state in Australia.
The Northern Tasmania climate is comparable with that from Champagne. Southern is colder.
Chardonnay and Riesling. Pinot Noir, and some Cabernet Sauvignon.
Sparkling wines.
