Australia

Question 1

Where did Captain Arthur Phillip stop for vine cuttings before landing in Australia in 1788?

Answer 1

Cape of Good Hope South Africa

Question 2

When did each state in Australia first planted vines?

When were these wineries founded…
Lindeman’s?
Penfolds?
Orlando Wines?
Yalumba?

Answer 2

New South Wales (Sydney) - 1788
Tasmania - 1823
Western Australia - 1830
South Australia - 1837
Victoria - 1838
_________________

Lindeman’s - 1843
Penfolds - 1844
Orlando Wines - 1847
Yalumba - 1847

Question 3

When did Australia become an independent commonwealth and how did it effect the wine industry?

Answer 3

1901
Federation brought an end to restrictive interstate trade barriers and increased South Australia’s competitiveness in the larger urban markets of New South Wales and Victoria.

Question 4

What was the majority of wine production after phylloxera and when did that change?

Answer 4

Sweet, fortified wines

• Fortified wines slid to less than 40% of total wine production in 1972, and by 2011 they accounted for less than 0.02% of the total harvest

Question 5

Describe Austrlia’s commercial success in the 2000s

Answer 5

• By 2003 Australia’s gross annual wine sales reached 4.5 billion Australian dollars, a target the Australians had conservatively set for 2025.
• “Brand Australia” offered a friendly gateway into wine for new consumers in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the country rocketed forward to become the fourth-largest wine exporter in terms of volume (behind Italy, Spain, and France), surpassing three billion dollars in exports in 2007.
• As of 2018, over 35% of Australia’s exports by value go to China, making it Australia’s largest export market (by value).

Question 6

What did Maurice O’Shea and Max Schubert contribute to wine culture in Australia?

Answer 6

mid-century, Australia was still churning out a majority of sweet, fortified wines

• O’Shea founded Mt. Pleasant in Hunter in 1925 and produced some of Australia’s first wines labeled by variety during his three-decade tenure as winemaker, despite tepid local interest
• Schubert worked from 1948 to 1975 as Chief Winemaker for Penfolds, with whom he introduced the Shiraz-based “Grange Hermitage” in the 1951 vintage.

Question 7

Describe Penfolds Grange

Answer 7

• Grange was originally panned by both critics and the company’s own management, but its star rose.
• Known simply as “Grange” from 1990 forward Schubert’s creation became Australia’s first truly collectible wine, and today stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the great wines of the world.
• Unlike many of its luxury-class peers, “Grange” is not the expression of a single site but rather a selection of the best grapes from a number of the company’s vineyards.
• This is a testament to the nature of the wine business in Australia, wherein production had become concentrated in the cellars of a few large wine companies, who could blend from vast resources across regions and state lines to create a consistent, desired wine style

Question 8

When was Langston’s classification system created?

Answer 8

Langton’s, Australia’s leading wine auction house, created its “Classification of Australian Wine” in 1990 to detail top-performing, investment-grade Australian wines. The classification, now in its seventh installment, includes in its “Exceptional” category

Question 9

What string of vintages in Australia were effected by severe drought?

Answer 9

2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009

Question 10

How did the financial collapse in the US in 2008 effect Australian wine?

Answer 10

• The 2008 economic recession in the US and Europe hit Australian producers hard: the Australian dollar gained value against US and European currencies, driving export prices up and reducing Australian wineries’ ability to compete in the global market.
• In the face of the global financial crisis, interest in Australian super-premium wines abroad evaporated, with the rapidly expanding Chinese market offering the best hope for immediate recovery.

Question 11

How has the bold, ripe style of Australian wine impacted it’s perception?

Answer 11

• Concentration—from old vines, from ripe fruit, from oak, and from winemaking treatment—seduced influential American critics in the 1990s, and many wineries seemed equally captivated by their suddenly extravagant scoring.
• Alcohol levels in Australia—and in the Barossa Valley in particular—rose to match critical infatuation with “power.”
• Wines were tailored to the formula, and were generously rewarded by critics.
• But tougher economic times, coupled with sommelier interest in lighter, more elegant styles, has left some of these abrupt stars abruptly gathering dust on US shelves.
• The truly iconic wines of Australia will continue to sell, and the backlash against yesteryear’s oversized, disproportionate wine styles has actually led to some soul-searching amongst the country’s winemakers.
• In many Australian regions, styles have shifted significantly in the span of the last decade, and—despite a beleaguered reputation—Australia is entering a new era of diversity, drinkability, and exciting wines.

Question 12

Where does Australia rank in wine production?

Answer 12

7th

Question 13

Which states are responsible for 97% of Australian wine production?

Answer 13

South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria
- Western Australia produces most of the remainder, with Tasmania and Queensland accounting for less than 1% each

Question 14

What are the most planted grapes in Australia?

Answer 14

1. Shiraz
2. Cabernet Sauvignon
3. Chardonnay
4. Merlot
5. Semillon

Question 15

When was Wine Australia created and what is it?

Answer 15

1981
- established in 1981 as the Australia Wine and Brandy Corporation, maintains oversight over the wine industry, regulating its label language, defining geographical boundaries of wine regions, moderating exports and trade, and promoting the product at home and abroad

Question 16

What is the Label Integrity Program?

Answer 16

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.
- If multiple varieties are to be listed on the label (i.e., Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre) the grapes must be listed in order of proportion in the blend.
- All components making up a minimum 85% of the blend must appear on the label, and no listed grape may be in lower proportion than an unnamed variety.

Question 17

When did Australia agree to stop using European protected words on wine bottles like Sherry, Tokay, Chianti or Madeira?

Answer 17

• In 1993 the Australian government signed an agreement with the EU to prohibit the use of European geographical names on Australian labels, and in turn Australian wine producers gained greater access to European markets. Some lesser-used geographical names, like Chianti and Madeira, were phased out by 1997; other more popular names, like Sherry and Tokay, were subject to further negotiations.
• In 2008, the EU and Australia signed a new agreement establishing immediate legal protection for the most entrenched European Geographical Indications and Traditional Expressions in Australia.
• From 2011 onward Australian producers were barred from using European GIs like Burgundy, Champagne, Sherry, and Port; and Traditional Expressions like Claret and Amontillado. Shiraz could henceforth no longer be labeled as its traditional Australian synonym “Hermitage.” Some expressions, such as Tawny, Solera, and Icewine, were reaffirmed for use under the new agreement, but the hotly contested “Tokay,” used by Rutherglen producers for more than a century, will be finally phased out by 2020. The loss of old terms is a catalyst for replacements: Tokay becomes Topaque and Sherry becomes Apera, an all-too-Australian play on “aperitif.”

Question 18

When did the Australia GI system roll out?

Answer 18

1994
- Australia’s GIs are purely geographic in scope, with no restrictions on grape varieties, yields, or other viticultural techniques
— Australia GI
— states
— zones
— regions
— sub-regions

Question 19

Describe the South Eastern Australia Zone

Answer 19

• In 1996 Wine Australia responded to EU laws requiring varietal wines to bear a specific region on the label by authorizing the multistate zone of South Eastern Australia,
  — encompasses all of Victoria, Tasmania, and New South Wales
  — along with the winegrowing areas of South Australia and Queensland
• This huge zone became the GI of choice for many a mass-market varietal wine, and gave Australian producers a huge competitive advantage in European supermarkets in the era prior to EU table wine law reforms of 2009

Question 20

Are zones required to be within a single state?

Answer 20

• Zones not necessarily contained within a single state
• Regions are not necessarily contained within a single zone
• Regions and sub-regions are defined by Wine Australia as single tracts of land, comprising at least five independently owned vineyards of at least five hectares apiece, with a minimum annual output of 500 tonnes of wine grapes

Question 21

What are the research institutes in Australia that significantly to wine technology?

Answer 21

Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI)
- it was AWRI scientists who successfully sequenced the genome for Dekkera bruxellensis (Brettanomyces) in 2011
- discovered the relationship between the sesquiterpene rotundone and the peppery smell of Syrah, and have contributed in many different areas of wine science, from deepening understanding of smoke taint—a major issue in wildfire-prone Australia—to the development of commercial yeast strains that produce undetectable levels of hydrogen sulfide

Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO)
- concept of minimal pruning, developed by CSIRO in the 1970s, relies on a vine’s natural self-discipline over time to keep its growth in check, and growers are essentially freed from winter pruning tasks. This technique gained widespread acceptance in many warmer areas, and in South Australia’s Coonawarra region, where it has been more recently recast as a culpable party in lackluster wine quality.

Both in Adelaide

Question 22

What tasks are most commonly performed by machines in the vineyard?

Answer 22

harvest
Hedging
Pruning
Fruit thinning

Question 23

What is minimal pruning?

Answer 23

concept of minimal pruning, developed by CSIRO in the 1970s, relies on a vine’s natural self-discipline over time to keep its growth in check, and growers are essentially freed from winter pruning tasks. This technique gained widespread acceptance in many warmer areas, and in South Australia’s Coonawarra region, where it has been more recently recast as a culpable party in lackluster wine quality.

Question 24

What is regulated deficit irrigation (RDI)?

Answer 24

regulated deficit irrigation - RDI
- RDI creates water stress during certain key periods of the vine’s development by lowering the total amount of applied irrigation water.
- By utilizing RDI after fruit set, vineyard managers could limit vegetative growth while enhancing fruit coloration and restricting berry size, and it is thus particularly useful for red wine grapes.
- However, water deficit may lower yield, and negatively impact the development of aromatic varieties by slowing the accumulation of monoterpenes in the ripening grapes.
- RDI provides only marginal water use savings, and lower water use efficiency

Question 25

What is partial rootzone drying (PRD)?

Answer 25

Partial Rootzone Drying - PDR
- reduces total water use by up to 50% by alternating the application of drip irrigation from one side of a vine row to the other, keeping half of the rootzone irrigated and half dry.
- PRD may accomplish many of the same results in terms of heightened grape quality, but it does not greatly affect yield.
- In the driest inhabited continent on earth, where periods of drought seem increasingly debilitating, PRD is quickly becoming a favored means of significant water usage reduction, and it makes positive economic and qualitative sense.

Question 26

What is partial rootzone drying (PRD)?

Answer 26

Partial Rootzone Drying - PDR
- reduces total water use by up to 50% by alternating the application of drip irrigation from one side of a vine row to the other, keeping half of the rootzone irrigated and half dry.
- PRD may accomplish many of the same results in terms of heightened grape quality, but it does not greatly affect yield.
- In the driest inhabited continent on earth, where periods of drought seem increasingly debilitating, PRD is quickly becoming a favored means of significant water usage reduction, and it makes positive economic and qualitative sense.

Question 27

What is the “clean, correct” style of inexpensive Australian wine and how is it achieved?

Answer 27

basic commercial level these attributes—clean, soft, fruit-forward
- Fruit character is preserved through cool white wine fermentations (in the 50-60° F range) and moderate red wine fermentations (in the 70-80° F range).
- Cleanliness is maintained via judicious sulfur dioxide additions and sterile filtration.
- Oak chips are common at the basic level.
- Achieving sugar ripeness in Australia’s largest regions is never a worry, and chaptalization is illegal throughout the country.
- Acidification with tartaric acid, on the other hand, is legal and is assuredly incorporated at the basic level and generally practiced for premium warm climate wines, from Rutherglen Muscat to Barossa Shiraz

Question 27

What is the “clean, correct” style of inexpensive Australian wine and how is it achieved?

Answer 27

basic commercial level these attributes—clean, soft, fruit-forward
- Fruit character is preserved through cool white wine fermentations (in the 50-60° F range) and moderate red wine fermentations (in the 70-80° F range).
- Cleanliness is maintained via judicious sulfur dioxide additions and sterile filtration.
- Oak chips are common at the basic level.
- Achieving sugar ripeness in Australia’s largest regions is never a worry, and chaptalization is illegal throughout the country.
- Acidification with tartaric acid, on the other hand, is legal and is assuredly incorporated at the basic level and generally practiced for premium warm climate wines, from Rutherglen Muscat to Barossa Shiraz

Question 28

Who developed bag-in-a-box wine?

Answer 28

Australians developed bag-in-the-box technology in the 1960s, and they were early and avid proponents of the screwcap closure

Question 29

What percentage of wine was under screwcap in 1999?

Answer 29

Australian wine critic, James Halliday, reported that in 2013 99% of all Australian white table wine (regardless of price) and 98.8% of its red table wines under $20 was closed under screwcap

Question 30

What market likely prevents Australia from totally eliminating corks closures, even in top wines?

Answer 30

China

Question 31

List the hectarage of each state

Answer 31