Australian Fine Wine

Responsible in no small part for introducing a whole generation to wine in the 1980s through its ‘sunshine-in-a-bottle’ formula, Australia long struggled to shake off its reputation for big, oaky Chardonnay and even bigger, burly Shiraz. Yet today, such an image couldn’t be further from the truth.

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Standout Australian wine regions

South Australia is a vast region, covering McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Adelaide Hills and the Barossa Valley. It is perhaps best known for its rich, ripe, rounded Shiraz, notably from Barossa, but even with this grape variety it is increasingly hard to generalise about styles. McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills, being cooler, yield fresher, more savoury styles of Shiraz, while there are several producers in Barossa itself who are dialling down the power and ripeness – particularly as temperatures rise – in favour of more restraint. Coonawarra has carved out a reputation for its own, singular, bright, eucalyptus-tinged style of Cabernet Sauvignon, while the cooler, more maritime Adelaide Hills is home to fine Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, among other varieties.

Western Australian

Western Australia is a relatively new winemaking region, the first wines only being released commercially in the early 1970s. But what it lacks in heritage it more than makes up for in quality, not least in Margaret River, which often draws parallels to Bordeaux for its maritime climate and savoury, elegant Cabernet red blends and Sauvignon-Semillon white counterparts. Chardonnay also does well here, in a region that is something of a winemaking haven, and has embraced sustainable, often organic and biodynamic practices.

Victoria

Victoria is arguably the hottest Aussie wine region right now – although that is something of a misnomer. The state is home to Australia’s increasingly acclaimed cool-climate movement, the ultimate antidote to the now rare big, bruising blockbusters for which the country was best known in the 1980s and ‘90s. Regions such as the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula have led the way with supremely nuanced, elegant renderings of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in particular.

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New South Wales

New South Wales produces a large amount of wine, but much of it is unremarkable. Where it does get interesting is in its hugely individual Semillon, from the Hunter Valley, a region that excels with the variety in a way few other places manage. A prodigiously ageworthy wine, gaining honeyed, toasty, beeswax notes over the years, it can also be enjoyed young, its light texture, low alcohol and bright citrus and green apple notes largely unencumbered by oak.

Australian wine styles and grape varieties

Part of the reason for the success of Australian wine in the UK down the years has been its clear affinity with certain core grape varieties. And not only are these varieties, for the most part, very familiar to wine lovers, they have also become associated with certain Australian regions. Think Barossa Shiraz, Coonawarra Cabernet, Margaret River Semillon/Sauvignon, Clare Valley Riesling… Such styles have established clear identities that challenge yet complement European notions of what each variety is about – from the lemon-and-lime, petrol-scented leanness of Clare Riesling, to the deep, fruit-forward ripeness of Barossa Shiraz. While there are still many well-structured Aussie reds – not least Barossa Shiraz – offering powerful, ripe fruit and bold tannins for the long haul, such wines are now far more reflective of their region. In addition, you’ll find nuanced, Rhône-like renderings of the variety, often blended with Grenache in other parts of South Australia, as well as Bordeaux-like Cabernet Sauvignon in Coonawarra and Margaret River, and shades of Burgundy in the elegant Pinot Noirs of Victoria. When it comes to the whites, the contemporary Chardonnay coming out of Margaret River, Victoria and Adelaide Hills is lean and chiselled, showcasing wonderful restraint and rigour. Riesling continues to thrive in the Clare Valley, where it yields a lemon-and-lime linearity that is hard to replicate anywhere else on Earth. And historic styles such as Hunter Valley Semillon remain compelling, while emerging regions such as Tasmania offer up hugely exciting visions of the future.

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Australian wine FAQs

What is Australia best known for in wine terms?

With an area so vast – Australia’s land mass is three-quarters the size of Europe – it is impossible to generalise. But there is no doubt that the country has traditionally – and justifiably – been associated with great-value, extremely well-made and consumer-friendly wines. Such a commercially advantageous reputation has at times masked the country’s not inconsiderable number of truly fine, ageworthy wines from its core regions. Indeed, if anything, the ‘sunshine in a bottle’ image has rather prejudiced some judgments of the fine-wine end of Australian production, while also pigeon-holing many wines as rather broad and one-dimensional in their character, when in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. In the last decade or more, Australia’s best producers have been turning out supremely nuanced, thoughtful, complex wines that trump the country’s outdated reputation.

What styles are most renowned in the fine wine arena?

It’s no surprise that arguably Australia’s two most famous – and certainly most venerable – producers, Penfolds and Henschke, are most associated with Shiraz from South Australia, notably Barosssa. Such a style has proven successful at both the massmarket and fine wine end of the spectrum, with wines such as Henschke’s Hill of Grace and Penfolds’ Grange (actually a blend of sites and varieties) showcasing just what the variety is capable of in terms of complexity and ageability. But Australian fine wine is about so much more – structured Cabernet Sauvignons from Coonawarra and Margaret River that each bear comparison with Bordeaux for profundity and gravitas; Rhône blends from McLaren Vale and surrounding areas, where Grenache is an increasingly acclaimed variety; and Chardonnay from Yarra Valley, Adelaide Hills and Margaret River that combines freshness and brightness with texture and depth.

Which are the emerging styles of Australian wine to look for?

In a word (or maybe two), cool-climate. So think Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Victoria and Tasmania. While the latter is still developing as a wine region, the former, spreading out in every direction from Melbourne, is home to such established sub-regions as the Yarra Valley, Beechworth, Geelong and Mornington Peninsula, where equally recognised producers such as Yarra Yering, Giaconda, By Farr and Yabby Lake have long bucked the stereotype of big, burly Aussie brutes in favour of something altogether more refined.

Australian wine producers

Australia’s fine-wine heritage can be traced back until at least the mid 19th century, when producers such as Henschke and Penfolds were first setting out on a path that would take them to global renown. But it was in the second part of the 20th century that a wave of new arrivals took things to the next level, names such as Cullen, Moss Wood and Leeuwin Estate establishing Margaret River as a new, world-class wine region, while the likes of Jeffrey Grosset and Jim Barry pushed the boundaries of established sites. More recently, as second and third generation winemakers further the legacy of such trailblazers, they have been joined by the latest stars – the likes of Mac Forbes, Torbreck and Glaetzer.