AUSTRALIA

A style
The wines of Australia are like its people: straightforward, outgoing, exuberant.

For example, in the 1980s, when Australian Chardonnay swaggered onto the world stage, it was a style of Chardonnay unlike any the world had tasted before: creamy and densely fruity, and as juicy as biting into ripe pineapple. Americans lapped it up.

By and large, Australia still makes Chardonnay (and some other whites) that way—and reds that are soft, plummy and packed with fruit. Australian wines just aren’t coy.

Facts
At three million square miles, Australia is nearly as large as the United States (including Alaska). More than 2,400 wineries in Australia make wine from 70 varieties of grapes—although a mere five grapes dominate sales (Chardonnay, Riesling, Sémillon, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz). Most of Australian winemaking, from vineyard work through to bottling, is mechanized—and the main reason Australian wines are so reasonably priced.

Sixty percent of Australia’s wines are white—too few know that the country makes some stellar Rieslings—and 30 percent are red. The remaining 10 percent? Australia’s celebrated “stickies”—sweet wines that the Australians sometimes call Port or Tokay.

Nearly all of Australia’s vineyards are in the cooler, more temperate southern half of the country (remember, everything down under is upside down). Harvest takes place from February to May, which gives Australia a six-month beat on the Northern Hemisphere for each vintage year.

How Australian wines are named
By and large, Australian wines get their names similarly to wines made in the Americas—by grape variety. If so labeled, at least 85 percent of the wine must be made from the named grape.

Unique to Australia, though, are wines named after two or more grape varieties. If more than one grape variety constitutes a wine (and neither reaches 85 percent), then the grape varieties must be named on the label in order of importance and by percentage used.

So, for example, a blend of Chardonnay–Sémillon might state “Chardonnay 60 percent-Sémillon 40 percent.” (By the way, Aussies pronounce Sémillon as SEM-eh-lawn.)

Around the world, in addition to (or in place of) grape names, many countries also designate some sort of place on the label. The Australians do this also, but again in a unique way.

Australians are not as fond of terroir (terr-WAHR)—or, a single grape-growing place—as Europeans. Instead, grapes for an individual wine may come from many places, some of which are very far apart.

An Australian winemaker will make individual wines from these grapes and then select and blend from among the wines for a final wine.

The geographic designation on the wine’s label will be the general or overarching area from which all the constituent wines came from—say, “South Australia,” an area as large as all of Germany’s vineyards combined.

Even so august a wine as Penfolds’ Grange is a blend of Shiraz grapes grown in various vineyards as much as 300 miles apart. (To make Grange, Penfolds begins with the equivalent of 40,000 cases of wine, then selects and blends from that to make around just 7,000 cases.)

By labeling wines this way, Australians are saying that style—especially fruity freshness—trumps terroir. However, an increasing number of the higher-ranked Australian wines come from smaller place designations.

Australian wine areas
You’ll find most of the major vineyard districts in one of four areas of the country.

South Australia: Half of the country’s wine comes from here, an enormous ring of vineyard lands encircling the south-central city of Adelaide. Well-respected districts include the Barossa Valley (for Shiraz and Riesling both) and Coonawarra (the epicenter of perfumed, elegant, structured Cabernet Sauvignon).

New South Wales: The best-known district here is the Hunter Valley, about 75 miles north of Sydney. Despite somewhat warm temperatures, Chardonnay thrives, but the star is Sémillon. West of “The Hunter,” as it is called, is Mudgee, higher in elevation. Cabernet Sauvignon does well here.

Victoria: This most southern (save for Tasmania) of the country’s vineyard areas lies between the two regions above. Three major districts excel in three different wines, among others: Goulburn Valley for Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz; Yarra Valley for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; and Rutherglen for sweet Muscat and Tokay.

Western Australia: Nearly 3,000 miles away from these three regions lie the country’s mostly westerly vineyards. Some of the country’s best Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the Margaret River appellation—vintners think the area is a twin for Bordeaux—but Chardonnay also shines. Chardonnay also is the best variety in another major district, Pemberton.

Major Grape Varieties:
Chardonnay: Leading white grape, making a range of wines from light and fruity whites to powerhouse, wooded, lush fruit bombs.

Riesling: Found anywhere in style from bone dry, zippy and austere to honey-sweet, botrytized late harvest.

Sémillon: Often blended with Chardonnay where it contributes suppleness. On its own, it is best aged (4-5 years) into a honeyed, fat, plush white.

Cabernet Sauvignon: Considered a bit more high-toned than Shiraz, producing structured, elegant, perfumed reds.

Shiraz (= Syrah): Is the undisputed ruler of red wine grapes in Australia. Produces opulent, chewy, jammy, inky wines. Often blended with Cabernet Sauvignon or Grenache.