Discovery Series Explores Australian Wines
Australia is an important wine-producing country with a vast range of climate and geography, which produces an incredible array of wine styles. Explore prominent Australian wines and regions.
Australian wine production is shaped by geography and climate.
Climate impacts Australian viticulture.
Australia is a large land mass with a vast range of climate and geography. It’s also an important wine-producing country, and those varying climates produce an incredible array of wine styles. In general, Australia is a warm-climate country, but extreme heat makes grape-growing challenging in many central and northern areas. The majority of wine is produced in the southeast, where elevation and proximity to the coast mitigate hot temperatures, and a more temperate, maritime climate prevails.
Australian wine production is shaped by geography and climate.
Australian vineyards’ top-producing grapes.
Australia’s production is split about 60-40 between red and white wines. Shiraz, the country’s signature grape, leads the way, accounting for over a third of vineyard plantings. Chardonnay is Australia’s most planted white with about a quarter of the vineyard area. Cabernet sauvignon also features prominently in Australian wines, while merlot, pinot noir and southern French varieties, like grenache, are less common. Other prominent white grapes found in Australia include sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, riesling and semillon.
Australian wine production is shaped by geography and climate.
Notable Australian wine regions.
While the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia produce the most wine, you will see the larger Southeastern Australia zone on many wine labels, denoting a regional blend of grapes from those areas. The state of South Australia is solely responsible for about half of all Australian wine produced, including red, white, rosé and sparkling wines. Notable subregions within South Australia include Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Eden Valley, Coonawarra, McLaren Vale and Limestone Coast.
Prominent Australian wines and the regions where they’re grown.