Australia Flashcards
learning
When were Australia’s first vines planted?
Who brought over these vines?
First vines were planted in 1788, in New South Wales.
These vines were brough over from SOUTH AFRICA by the British under the command of Captain Arthur Philip.
Which people helped Australia advance in their winemaking tradition?
European immigrants, between the 1830s and the 1840s.
How is it that Australia managed to hold on to some of the world’s oldest surviving vines?
When phylloxera hit Australia in the latter half of the 19th century, it was successfully contained mostly within Victoria, so the rest of Australia didn’t get affected by the disease.
How did South Australia become the top producing state of the entire Australia?
Victoria was once the main wine growing region, until phylloxera devasted the vines of Victoria, giving South Australia a head start.
Then the union of South Australia/New South Wales/Victoria/Queensland/Western Australia/Tasmania 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.
From the post-phylloxera period until the 1960s, Australia’s focus turned to producing what kind of wines?
Fortified wines.
Approximately 80% of Australia’s wine industry was focused on fortified wines, until the 1970’s, when momentum was building worldwide for dry table wines.
Who are Australia’s biggest exports of wines?
USA and UK
As of 2022, over 20% of Australia’s exports by value go to USA, whereas the UK is the largest export market by volume with 35% of volume.
What was Australia’s first truly collectible wine? What was the vintage? Who made it? What is it called now?
It was called ‘Grange Hermitage’, vintage 1951. This wine was created by Max Schubert, who served as the chief winemaker of Penfolds from 1948 to 1975.
From 1990 and on, it was simply called ‘The Grange’
Who is Max Schubert?
Max Schubert is an icon in the Aussie wine industry for being the creator of the Penfold ‘Grange’, bringing focus to the high quality of Australian wines.
Who created “Hill of Grace” Shiraz?
Cyril Henschke created the first Hill of Grace in 1958 from shiraz vines at Hill of Grace vineyard, up to 100 years old.
Langton’s Classification of Australian Wine
1) When was is first established?
2) What was the inspiration behind it?
3) What is the purpose of it?
4) How many years must a wine be released in order to qualify?
Langton’s Classification of Australian Wine was created in 1991. It was inspired by the Bordeaux classification of 1855. The purpose is to detail top-performing, investment-grade Australian wines.
Wines must have been released for at least ten vintages and have a strong track record in the secondary market.
How many wines are ‘First Classified’ under the Classification of AUS wines?
Name at least four?
There are 21 First classified wines.
Bass Phillip Wines Reserve Pinot Noir
Best’s Great Western Thomson Family Shiraz
Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir
Brokenwood Wines Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz
Cullen Wines Diana Madeline
Giaconda Estate Vineyard Chardonnay
Henschke Hill Of Grace Shiraz
Henschke Mount Edelstone Shiraz
Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay
Mount Mary Pinot Noir
Mount Mary Quintet
Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz
Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon
Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz
Penfolds Bin 144 Yattarna Chardonnay
Rockford Basket Press Shiraz
Torbreck Runrig Shiraz
Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon
Wendouree Shiraz
Wynns Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch
Yarra Yering Dry Red Wine No.1 Cabernet
In the beginning of the 21th century, what natural problem caused the Australian wine industry to decrease?
DRAUGHT
Since 1995, draught has been a problem for many vintages such as 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 vintages.
What are the top 5 varietals of Australia?
Shiraz
Cabernet Sauvignon
Chardonnay
Merlot
Semillon
Why do Australian vintage dated wines appear first in US & UK shelves before any other country?
Australian vintage-dated wines always appear on shelves before Northern Hemisphere wines, as the harvest occurs six months earlier in the wine-producing countries of the Southern Hemisphere.
What is Wine Australia Act 2013?
It is a law that governs the Wine Australia, an Australian Government statutory corporation that promotes and regulates the Australian wine industry.
What is the purpose of Wine Australia?
- To maintain oversight over the wine
industry - Regulate its label language
- Define geographical boundaries of wine
regions - Moderate exports and trade
- Promote the product at within AUS and
abroad.
Describe the Label Integrity Program, and in what vintage was it executed?
The Label Integrity Program was introduced for the 1990 vintage.
It requires that any wine labeled by variety, region and vintage must contain a minimum 85% of the listed varietal, region and vintage.
If multiple varieties are listed on the label, the grapes must be listed in order of the proportion of the grapes.
All components making up the minimum of the 85% must be listed on the label.
No listed grape may be of a lower proportion than an unlisted grape.
