Laws & History

Question 1

Who oversees the Australian wine industry? What was it FKA?

Answer 1

Wine Australia, a government authority 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 2

What is the Label Integrity Program?

Answer 2

Wine Australia created 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 3

How are Regions in Australia defined by Wine Australia?

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Answer 3

Geographical Indications (GIs) and are listed on the Register of Protected Names, a means of formal appellation protection.

As in other New World countries, Australia’s appellations are purely geographic in scope; there are no restrictions on grape varieties, yields, etc.

Question 4

What are the requirements to be a region/sub-region for wine

Answer 4

Both 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 output of 500 tons of wine grapes annually.

Question 5

Regions are not necessarily contained within a single zone, nor are zones necessarily contained within a single state… Name an example.

Answer 5

In one instance, blending can occur across state lines while maintaining a guise of “regionality”: in 1996, Wine Australia authorized the multistate zone of South Eastern Australia, which encompasses all of Victoria, Tasmania, and New South Wales, along with the winegrowing areas of South Australia and Queensland.

Question 6

What is a “traditional expression” and how may they be labeled?

Answer 6

Wines may be labeled with the state (or country) of origin. Certain “Traditional Expressions” are protected label terms in Australia, but many of the more flagrant adoptions (Champagne, Tokay, Madeira, Port, etc.) have been slowly phased out by agreement with the EU

Question 7

When did the first vines arrive to Australia?

Answer 7

vines arrived on the continent with the First Fleet of British prisoners in 1788

Question 8

Who owns Penfold and Lindemans? When did those two wineries launch?

Answer 8

Penfolds and Lindemans, two of Australia’s most recognizable brands—both are now owned by Treasury Wine Estates—launched 19th c.

Question 9

What created a problem for Australia in the 19th c?

Answer 9

Economic recession and phylloxera befell Australia in the latter half of the 19th century

Question 10

How was phylloxera handled?

Answer 10

officials took strict and immediate measures to combat the spread of phylloxera, confining it to Victoria and a portion of New South Wales. While the root louse decimated the Victorian wine industry—Australia’s most important wine area in the late 1800s—it cleared the way for South Australia to emerge as the continent’s largest region of production.

Question 11

In addition to confining phylloxera, what else helped put Australia on the map?

Answer 11

A second key factor in South Australia’s rise to prominence was the creation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, as federation brought a relaxation of the interstate trade barriers.

Question 12

Where are most of Australias larger wineries headquartered?

Answer 12

Today, the state of South Australia annually produces about 50% of the nation’s wine, and most of Australia’s largest wine groups are headquartered there.

Question 13

Today, Australia is the __#__largest wine exporter in volume, behind Italy, France, and Spain.

Answer 13

Today, Australia is the __4th__largest wine exporter in volume, behind Italy, France, and Spain.

Question 14

What style of wine represented the majority of production in Australia from 1900-1970s?

Answer 14

From the post-phylloxera period until the 1960s, approximately 80% of Australia’s production consisted of sweet, fortified wines. Britain imported more wine from Australia than France in the decade before World War II, and Australian wineries eagerly provided assistance during a critical wartime beer shortage for the US Army! While these sweet, alcoholic wines remained in the majority until 1970, momentum was building for dry table wines.

Question 15

Is chapeltalization allowed?

Answer 15

no

Question 16

Australia had greatly contributed to the modern wine-making world, and what two establishments are mostly to thank?

Answer 16

The Australian Wine Research Institute in Adelaide and the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), both based in Adelaide, have contributed greatly to the nation’s scientific understanding of the grape, and the University of Adelaide has an acclaimed oenology program.

Question 17

How does irrigation come into play in Australia?

Answer 17

Irrigation in the extremely dry climate of Australia is essential—only through irrigation were large swaths of the country’s vineyard lands made accessible to the vine. Riverland in South Australia and Riverina in New South Wales, which together account for nearly 40% of Australia’s wine production, were unsuitable for viticulture prior to the use of irrigation. However, vintners have to tread carefully when irrigating Australia’s high-saline soils, and they have become adept at moisture management.

Question 18

Discuss regional blending in Australia?

Answer 18

Essentially, Australia’s large companies—despite an approximate 2,300 wineries, in 2008 14 winemakers accounted for 70% of the total production—have the capability to make fruity, accessible wine cheaply, and sell it for less than many of their counterparts in California, South America, and the Old World. Furthermore, at the base level they can regulate and assure quality and a sense of brand consistency by blending over vast tracts of land, often spread over several states. This blending philosophy carries from the mass-market to the highest levels of quality in Australia, including Penfolds’ iconic “Grange”.

Question 19

What is “Grange”

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

What is minimal pruning?

Answer 20

CSIRO developed the counterintuitive technique of minimal (zero) pruning, which actually restricts vigor, for Australia’s low cost vineyards.

Question 21

Discuss the old vines of Australia

Answer 21

isolating phylloxera has bestowed the country with some of the oldest vines in the world—some are over 150 years old, and are planted on their own rootstock.

Inky rich style was popular in 90s/00s= they issued mass bottlings extremely competitively, old vine “cult” Australian wines surged upward in price and demand.

Question 22

Name a few older wineries and modern wineries working with old vines? how is the oak treatment?

Answer 22

Some cult bottlings, such as “Grange” and Yalumba’s “Octavius” Shiraz, stem from Australia’s oldest and largest producers, whereas others—Clarendon Hills’ “Astralis” and Torbreck’s “RunRig” Shiraz—are the result of newer projects. All of the aforementioned wines are sourced from old vine parcels. With the successes of such limited, high-end bottles some producers are transitioning from the traditional American oak to French barrique, and placing more emphasis on the expression of single vineyard sites.

Question 23

what vintages in the past decade where affected by drought?

Answer 23

2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 - battles over water rights do not help

Question 24

What specifically devastated Australia in 2009?

Answer 24

2009, terrible brush fires wreaked havoc on vineyards in the Yarra Valley and other wine-producing regions in Victoria—a direct effect of the dry weather and one of the worst natural disasters in Australia’s history.

Question 25

What other problems, aside from drought, are affecting Australia currently?

Answer 25

Springtime and early fall frosts also create constant worry for winemakers. The Australian wine industry has suddenly had to cope with economic realities of a wine glut as well. Australia’s commercial brands have lost steam in the face of economic recession and declining demand in the US, and all but the most renowned premium bottlings are struggling to maintain sales. In the long run, Australia’s climatic troubles may actually serve to regulate its oversupply, cutting down on the sudden excess of wine.

Question 26

What is australias coolest wine growing region?

Answer 26

victoria