Australia Study Guide Flashcards
Penfolds and Lindemans are now owned by what company?
Treasury Wine Estates
What two events further decimated the Australian wine industry following the mass exodus of gold prospectors in the late 19th century?
Economic recession and phylloxera
Australia has successfully confined phylloxera to what two states through strict quarantine laws?
Victoria and parts of New South Whales
How did Phylloxera benefit South Australia?
It decimated the Victorian wine industry, Australia’s most important wine area in the late 1800s, clearing the way for South Australia to emerge as the continent’s largest region of production.
What did the creation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 do to aid the wine trade in Australia?
It relaxed inters trade trade barriers
What % of Australia’s annual production comes from South Australia?
50%
What style of wine was Australian production geared towards in between the post-phylloxera period until the 1960s?
About 80% of Australia’s production consisted of sweet and fortified wines.
What 4 circumstances led to a surge in dry table wine production in Australia starting in the 1970s?
surge in quality at the lowest level
adoption of new technologies
changing consumer preferences
skyrocketing domestic consumption
By the mid 1990s what were the three grapes leading the charge for varietal premium wines in Australia?
Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay
Today Australia is the fourth largest producer of wine by volume behind what three countries?
Italy, France, and Spain
What 4 principles are at the core of commercial winemaking in Australia?
technical proficiency
mechanical harvesting
irrigation
blending
What are the three organizations based in Adelaide that have contributed greatly to the nation’s scientific understanding of the grape?
The Australian Wine Research Institute
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO)
University of Adelaide
What are “Flying Winemakers”?
A term that originated in reference to Australian at the forefront of viticultural innovation, who utilize modern techniques for canopy management and soil mapping, and have spread their technical acumen across the globe
What are three winemaking techniques that are most common at the mass market level in Australia? Is Chaptalization allowed?
The use of cultured yeasts
acidification
micro-oxygenation
Chaptalization is not allowed
Why does Australia rely heavily on mechanical harvesting?
Due to a lack of population and cheap source of labor
Why are a majority of Australian vineyards planted on flat expanses rather than unworkable hillsides?
Because they rely heavily on mechanical harvesting
What counterintuitive technique was pioneered by CSIRO to restrict vigor in Australia’s low cost vineyards?
minimal pruning (zero in fact)
Which two GIs for mass production account collectively for nearly 40% of Australia’s wine production?
Riverland in South Australia
Riverina in New South Whales
What percent of Australia’s annual production is produced by the 14 largest producers?
Around 70%
When did Penfold’s Grange first debut? Who produced it? What was it called then?
1951 Grange Hermitage was produced by Max Schubert
How is the iconic Penfold’s Grange dissimilar to most of the world’s iconic luxury wines?
It is produced by blending from many vineyards across several regions
Who makes Hill of Grace? What is the grape? What is the GI?
Henschke
Shiraz
Eden Valley
What are the producers, grapes, and Gis for the following?
Hill of Grace Grange Octavius Astralis RunRig High Sands
Hill of Grace:
Henschke/Shiraz/Eden Valley
Grange
Penfolds/Shiraz and Cab/South Australia
Octavius
Yalumba/Shiraz/Barossa
Astralis
Clarendon Hills/Shiraz/McLaren Vale
RunRig
Torbreck/Shiraz/Barossa
High Sands
Yangarra/Grenache/McLaren Vale
What vintage saw terrible brush fires in the Yarra Valley and other parts of Victoria?
2009
