Australian wine History

Vine cuttings from the Cape of Good Hope were brought to the penal colony of New South Wales by Governor Phillip on the First Fleet (1788).[9] An attempt at wine making from these first vines failed, but with perseverance, other settlers managed to successfully cultivate vines for winemaking, and Australian made wine was available for sale domestically by the 1820s.[10] In 1822 Gregory Blaxland became the first person to export Australian wine, and was the first winemaker to win an overseas award.[11] In 1830 vineyards were established in the Hunter Valley.[9] In 1833 James Busby returned from France and Spain with a serious selection of grape varieties including most classic French grapes and a good selection of grapes for fortified wine production.[9] Wine from the Adelaide Hills was sent to Queen Victoria in 1844, but there is no evidence that she placed an order as a result. The production and quality of Australian wine was much improved by the arrival of free settlers from various parts of Europe, who used their skills and knowledge to establish some of Australia’s premier wine regions. For example, emigrants from Prussia in the mid 1850s were important in establishing South Australia’s Barossa Valley as a winemaking region.

Australian Wine Demand

The total numbers of wine producers in Australia have increased from 1625 to 2299 between 2003 and 2011.The Australian wine industry has a major share in the Australian economy. Australia is the fourth largest producer of wine in the world with an international export market of over 400 million liters annually, in addition to an equivalent domestic market.