Wine Spectator Magazine

It is true that real sommeliers do not often think Australian wines when considering the best vineyards in the world. But believe it or not, Australia is the fourth largest wine exporter in the world, with some 105 million liters of wine exported per year. It's more than 400,000,000 liters, for you non U.S. readers! And with as many liters they export, Australians also typically consume as much wine themselves as they export! It is evident that there must be something of high quality wines from Australia if there are more than 200 million gallons of it consumed every year! Look at some very interesting facts about these wines that are appreciated worldwide.

One of the reasons that Australian wines do so well is the climate of this continent. While it may have been a bit difficult to get around by those who first began cultivating grapes for wine, they quickly learned to adapt to climate and met with success in an increasingly wide variety grapes for some very fine wines. This selection generally includes Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Riesling. These wines are always made from grapes imported from the continent has no indigenous grapes of its own. The fact that the Australian vineyard owners could adapt to a less familiar with foreign grapes to become the fourth largest wine exporter in the world shows their dedication to science and art of winemaking.

Award Winners

The Australian label Penfolds Grange has won over 50 gold medals over the last fifty years or since its inception. By 1971, won first prize at the Olympics of wine in Paris in 1990 was named "Red Wine of the Year" by Wine Spectator magazine in 1995. Some critics have called this wine "into the wine world's most exotic and concentrated", beating many great wines from France and Italy.

Many other Australian wines have held their own wine competitions around the world and have been recognized by critics and wine lovers.

Their ups and downs

There were many years when the wine vineyards of Australia have been disrupted by the phylloxera pest infests the small vineyards. When they finally overcame this infestation, the vines were generally the production of sweet wines and strong. Because of their popularity, the Australian government actually paid to producers to withdraw their vines in order to level the market. This has been repeated in recent years, there has been an overproduction and selling.

However, with the rise in popularity of organic products, Australian wines have won new popularity. Many vineyards are now finding that their demand is growing for organic and biodynamic wines, and their growth is again. Australia has also hosted the International Biodynamic Wine Forum, which includes the owners of organic and biodynamic vineyard in the world.