Australia Flashcards
What is LIP’s purpose? How is it acheived?
Ensure honesty and transparency for consumers of
Australian wine.
Producer, address, abv, number of standard drinks, contains sulfites, wine of australia, product of australia, allergies.
What is Australia’s wine regulatory body? What were its first big initiatives?
Wine Australia 1981
Label Integrity Program (LIP) 1990
GI System 1993
What other country’s delimiting system is most similar to Australia’s? Why?
America’s AVAs most resemble Australia’s GIs because they control geographical boundaries but not viticulture or vinification. They can also be nested.
What are the levels of Australia’s GI system from largest to smallest?
State, zone, region, sub-region
What is Australia’s % rule of labeling?
85% for variety, vintage, or GI
What is Australia’s % rule of blending?
85% must be disclosed, in descending order. You can’t omit a grape that’s a greater portion that one you include.
What are Australia’s approved terms for champagne style wine?
Methode Champenoise or Methode Traditionelle
What are Cabernets & Pinots in Australia?
Official terms for Bordeaux blends or Pinot Family blends
What are Topaques & Aperas in Australia?
Official terms for sweet fortified muscadelle & fortified sherry-style wines, both aged in solera systems.
Where are most Topaques produced?
Rutherglen & Glenrowan in Victoria
What is the primary grape of an Apera?
Palomino
Briefly describe the Barossa Old Vine Charter
4 level-hierarchy for describing Barossa’s old vines:
Barossa Old Vine: 35+ yrs
Barossa Survivor Vine: 70+ yrs
Barossa Centenarian Vine: 100+ yrs
Barossa Ancestor Vine: 125+ yrs
What are Australia’s primary & secondary white grapes?
Primary: Chard, Sauv Blanc, Riesling, Semillon
Secondary: PG, Arneis, Viognier, Verdelho
What are Australia’s primary & secondary red grapes?
Primary: Cab, Merlot, Grenache, Shiraz, Pinot
Secondary: Sangiovese, Malbec, Barbera
What Ocean surrounds Australia? What parallel does its major growing regions fall & who is its latitude buddy?
Indian Ocian
31st Parallel South with Coquimbo in Chile
Where is wine production centered in Australia and why?
At the coasts to the South, because the country’s center is an arid outback, and its northern coasts are tropical
What are Australia’s primary wine climates?
Maritime, Mediterranean, & Continental
What major bodies of water influence Australian wine growing regions?
Indian Ocian
Tasman Sea, between Aus & NZ
Port Phillip near Melbourne
Bass Strait between Victoria & Tasmania
Great Australian Bight in S Aus
Rivers:
Swan & Blackwood (W Aus)
Goulburn & Murray (Victoria)
Murray, Darling, Lachlan, Murumbidgee (New South Wales)
What are the major mountain ranges affecting Australian viticulture?
Great Dividing Range along the East Coast in Victoria & NSW
Southern Flinders Range in Southern Australia running N to S near Adelaide
What is the climate of Western Australia? Margaret River Specifically?
Mediterranean
Maritime
What is the climate of Southern Australia?
Mediterranean
Cooler toward the coast
More continental influence inland
What is the climate of New South Wales?
Subtropical with alpine influence from GDR
What is the climate of Victoria?
Maritime with inland alpine influence
What is the climate of Tasmania?
Maritime
What is the climate of Queensland?
Subtropical with high humidity to the North
Continental to the South
What are the soils of Western Australia?
Red gravely loam, sand, & clay
What are the soils of Southern Australia?
Loam, sand, clay, & Terra Rossa
What is Terra Rossa?
Red silty clay made famous by Coonawarra
What are the soils of New South Wales? Hunter specifically?
Clay, loam, sandstone
Hunter Valley: Volcanic Loam
What are the soils of Victoria?
Sand, loam, basalt, volcanic
What are the soils of Queensland?
Decomposed granite, sand, brown & black clay
What are the soils of Tasmania?
Decomposed granite, sand, sandstone, schist
Briefly sketch out Australia’s wine history
1778: Cuttings brought to NSW by Governer Arthur Phillip
1820s: Aus wines commercially available domestically
1822: Aus wines begin to be exported
1833: James Busby brings French & Spanish cuttings to Aus
1873: Aus wines receive praise from Vienna Exhibition Blind
1877: Phylloxera recorded in Geelong, Victoria
1889: An Aus wine wins gold at Paris International Exhibition
1952: Penfolds Max Schubert produces first Grange vintage
1958: Henschke produces first vintage of Hill of Grace single vineyard shiraz
1960s: Local Prosperity increases demand for quality wine
1995: PG’s 1990 is named Wine Spectator’s Wine of the Year
What is the general trend in style of Australian wines? How is it achieved?
Dry, clean & fruit-driven
Stainless steel fermentation’s the norm
Why is technological innovation crucial to Australia? Examples?
Lack of cheap labor makes it essential
Mechanized harvesting, zero-pruning
What is the general style of Australian white wines?
Bone-dry with reductive notes from screwcap bottling
Ripe fruit, ageworthy
What is Australia’s relationship with oak?
French & American are both used, with a preference for new for their big Shiraz & Cabs
How do Victoria & Coonawarra Cabs tend to differ?
Coonawarra is red-fruited with vibrant acidity and french oak aging
Victoria is more Bordeaux-esque with black fruit, eucalyptus, & mint.
What are the major cities in each of Aus’s wine regions?
NSW: Sydney, Canberra
Victoria: Melbourne
Tasmania: Hobart
S Aus: Adelaide
W Aus: Perth
Who created Penfolds Grange?
Where is it located? What are its two most famous wines?
Max Schubert
Barossa
Bin 95 (Shiraz)
Bin 620 (Cab & Shiraz)
Who are the major Barossa producers?
Penfolds Grange
Torbreck
Seppeltsfield
What is Torbreck’s signature wine?
The Laird, a single vineyard shiraz
What is Seppeltsfield’s signature wine?
Para Liqueur: a tawny-port style fortified wine of GSM
Who is Eden Valley’s big producer? What’s their signature wine?
Henschke’s Hill of Grace single vineyard Shiraz
Who is Clare Valley’s big producer? What’s their signature wine?
Jim Barry’s the Armagh single vineyard Shiraz
Who is McLauren Vale’s big producer? What’s their signature wine?
Clarendon Hill’s Astralis single vineyard Shiraz
Who is Yarra Valley’s big producer? What’s their signature wine?
Yarra Yering’s Carrodus vineyard (makes several wines)
Who is Gippsland’s big producer? What’s their signature wine?
Bass Phillip’s Reserve Pinot Noir
What are Margaret River’s big producers? What are their signature wines?
Leeuwin Estates: Art Series Chardonnay
Cullen: The Vanya Cabernet
