NSW Flashcards
New South Wales terroir and production
Australia’s most populous state and the site of the country’s first vineyards, planted in 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. New South Wales accounts for approximately one-quarter of Australia’s wine production, with over half of the state’s production concentrated west of the Great Dividing Range in the heavily irrigated Riverina region, also known as the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.
Riverina producers
Riverina represents Australian industrial viticulture at its most efficient; Casella, the producer of the runaway success [yellow tail], sources most of its fruit for the brand from Riverina. De Bortoli, another huge wine producer in Riverina, crowns its range with the impressive “Noble One,” a botrytised Semillon dessert wine.
Hunter GI terroir?
Occupying a gentle, flat river valley running eastward from the Brokenback Mountains to the coast, the lower half of the Hunter Valley zone
Hunter is subtropical, and has one of the warmest climates in Australia—a condition mitigated by high amounts of humidity, rain, and wind.
What wine did Napoleon drink at the end of the Paris Exhibition in 1855?
Viticulture in the Lower Hunter Valley dates to 1830, and in 1855 Napoleon III sipped not Champagne, but rather a sparkling Hunter Valley wine during the closing ceremonies of the Paris Exhibition—that famous event in the wine world that christened the classified châteaux of Bordeaux.
Hunter GI wines and varietals
Despite the heat, 60% of Hunter’s output is white wine; Semillon, or “Hunter Riesling,” is the region’s greatest white grape.
The Portuguese white variety Verdelho is also popular in the region, producing more aromatic, tropical-scented wines. Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon are the region’s most important red grapes.
Hunter GI subregion? varietals? terroir?
Broke Fordwich, a subregion of Hunter, claims the oldest Verdelho plantings in the country and offers dynamic Semillon wines sourced from sandy, alluvial soils.
What is ‘Vat 1”?
Hunter Valley Semillon, Tyrrell’s “Vat 1,” may age for over two decades, surpassing an austere, grassy youth to develop richness, honey, and buttered toast tones over time.
Southern New South Wales zone GI?
Canberra District GI
Tumbarumba GI
What is the Canberra Disctrict GI split between?
technically split between the state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory
Canberra GI Producer and wine?
Clonakilla’s Canberra District Shiraz, co-fermented with a small percentage of Viognier, has rapidly risen to the ranks of Australia’s finest.
Tumbarumba GI wines and terroir?
alpine, cool-climate - produces sparkling wines and still Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the sun-drenched, basalt slopes of the Snowy Mountains.
Hunter Riesling alcohol
Surprisingly for such a warm climate, the grape rarely achieves more than 11-12% abv.
