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Article #101: A Guide to Buying Australian Wine

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Why buy wine? wine. After initial fermentation, some
In Australia, wine has become the new winemakers choose to ferment in oak,
beverage of choice for people in all others not to. Using oak affects the
walks of life. Moreover, Australia has reduction of tannins in the wine.
developed an enviable reputation amongst Different types of oak-English, American,
wine drinkers and appreciators the world old-affect the flavour and character of
over. au can help you make the right the wine as it matures to its nominal
selection of wine for any occasion and to alcohol level. It is in the barrel that a
suit any taste. Listed on our website, lot of transformations in flavours and
you will find some of the most celebrated character occur, and a great deal of
labels and award winning wines and you skill is required to know exactly when to
can make a selection based on reviews, bottle the wine.
price and supplier, regardless of why you Different winemakers have different
want to purchase wine. techniques and, while a good wine can't
Wine be made from bad grapes, it is largely
There are essentially three reasons that the winemaker's skill that produces a
we can think of why you might want to buy good wine.
wine: to drink in some social occasion, Taste
to give as a gift, or as an investment One of the ways we can tell the quality
with a realisable future. of wine as judged by its taste, is
Buying wine to drink whether it has had successes in any of a
Winemaker Greg Gallagher at the Charles number of wine shows held around the
Sturt University, South Australia, says country. Experts from the wine industry
judging a good wine is simple. "It starts judge wines on their quality and medal
with asking, 'do you like it?' " he says, winners enjoy the benefits of being
"and finishes with 'did you like it?'" recognised and written about in the main
When you have a list of favourite wines, media.
all you need to do is find them on au, While not every medal winner is a wine
and you will find out where it's sold for that suits our taste, it is as a direct
the best price. result of the shows and competitions that
But, because it's not always easy Australian wines have grown in popularity
remembering the name, style and vintage and quality. At au you can compare many
of the wine you enjoy, it's a good idea award winning wines.
to keep a record of wines you drink that What's your taste?
you really like (and those that you'd Regions and style
prefer to avoid), for future reference. When you are shopping for wine, one of
When you're buying wine to drink, there the first questions to answer is whether
are a number of considerations you might you are choosing a red wine or a white
like to bear in mind, the first being: wine. Once you have decided this, you can
what is the occasion? It stands to reason then start to narrow down the different
that a wine for an intimate dinner with a styles. Begin with the question of
partner might be a different choice than whether you are seeking a dry wine or a
one for a footy night with the boys. sweet wine.
Sharing a wine with someone is a lot more Styles of wine are named after the region
than simply sharing the drink. It's also from which the grape originated. In the
sharing your taste, your values and your popular dark reds you have the Cabernet
standards, so it pays to think carefully Sauvignon, Shiraz and Merlot styles that
about the occasion and the company with tend to be drier wines. Lighter reds
whom you are sharing the wine. feature Beaujolais, Pinot Noir and Rose
A second consideration might be, what is styles and these tend toward sweeter
accompanying the wine? Wine is often wines.
enjoyed with a meal, but you might like Popular white wines include the Chablis,
to consider also how the occasion (or Riesling, Semillon, Chenin, Sauvignon
meal) will develop. Matching the perfect Blanc and Chardonnay styles in dry wines,
wine with the perfect food and mood is an with Traminer Riesling, Moselle and late
exhilarating experience, and is often at picked Verdelho in the sweeter styles.
the heart of great memories. Aperitifs include sweet and dry sherry
You may also want to consider the and Marsala. Dessert wines include
ambience of the occasion. A wine for Sauternes, Muscats and Ports.
enjoying at an evening symphony concert Many wines are now presented as blended
will have a different character to that wines, a way to offer wider variety in
enjoyed at a beach picnic. taste and a way to use up less popular
Buying wine as a gift grapes and thereby minimise waste in the
Wine makes an excellent gift for many industry.
reasons. It's an easy purchase; you can Australia has more than a dozen
buy a wine to suit practically any identified wine growing regions that
budget. And it is a demonstration of your produce distinctive wines of the main
taste and standards, subtly imparted to styles. The Barossa Valley in South
someone whom you may care for. Australia is possibly the most famous
However, as well as meeting your taste region with the richest heritage, and
standards, you also need to choose a wine features many labels from subregions such
that will meet the tastes of the as Claire Valley, McLaren Vale, Langhorne
receiver. It pays to find out what sort Creek and the Adelaide Hills. These
of wine that person enjoys, and buy regions produce some of the most
within that person's style or region spectacular Riesling wines, and Shiraz
preferences. A person who enjoys sweet styles in the country. East of this
white wines will appreciate a gift that region, near the border with Victoria
matches that personality. lies the Coonawarra district (also known
Buying wine as an investment as Riverland), famous for its Cabernet
Some wines make a good investment because Sauvignon. In Victoria lie the Yarra
they are rare and have an established Valley and Mornington Peninsular
reputation causing them to appreciate in districts. The Goulbourn Valley lies on
value. Possibly the most famous of these the border with New South Wales. The
in Australia is Penfolds' Grange Hunter Valley in New South Wales produces
Hermitage, a Shiraz style Claret that has some of Australia's finest wines, while
been made since 1951 (a bottle of that in the West, Margaret River, t4he Swan
vintage now might set you back $50,000 or Valley and the Plantagenet districts all
more if you can find one). Although young produce fine wines.
in terms of wine heritage, Australia has Trends
some notable wines that do and will Recent economic conditions and
appreciate in value. consecutive years of oversupply have
A good investment wine is not necessarily changed much of Australia's wine market.
a guarantee of a high quality drinking There are many small boutique wineries
wine. The investment values are arrived whose products can be bought direct from
at by reputation. A particular vintage the cellar door. Many of these wines are
may have enjoyed popularity for any featured on au by style and region.
number of reasons and become scarce The wine industry is encouraging the
because only a limited number of bottles buying of wines and cellaring them
were produced. What results is a (storing them in a cool place) for a
collectors market and wine changes hands period of time and enjoying them at a
through auctions, private sales, estate later time. To cellar your wine, store it
dissolutions and wine club memberships. somewhere cool, dark, airy, and free from
What makes a good investment wine vibration and dampness. Temperature
however, is the fact that you are able to stability is the most important factor in
sell the wine at some future date for a preserving wine in the cellar. Storing
sum greater than what you paid. Therefore wine in an environment where the
the condition of the wine-or more temperature varies gradually with the
importantly, the bottle-is of paramount seasons is better than in a room that
consideration. The provenance of an varies with the day and night.
investment wine is important. Before For long-term storage, the ideal cellar
buying, you need to establish its history temperature is 18 degrees Celsius and a
of origin and previous ownership. relative humidity of 60-75%. Warmer
Satisfied that the bottle is in good conditions accelerate the development of
condition, once in your possession it wines, which could mean a reduction in
needs to be cellared correctly in the the pleasure of drinking them.
absence of heat, light and movement. You The second phenomenon to occur through
should document your ownership and the oversupply is the introduction of
conditions of its cellaring before cleanskins, a method of selling wine
selling it to a new buyer. without a brand label. This is presented
What makes good wine? as being 'money saving' because of a
The winemaking process reduction in marketing expense, however
The quality of a wine is affected by a the real cost saving per bottle is around
wide variety of factors that occur in and 3-5 cents (the cost of printing and
as a result of the winemaking, cellaring applying a label).
and handling processes. One of the key Cleanskins enable a wine producer to
factors is the terrain and climate, present a lower cost bottle, but this is
commonly referred to as a 'region', where mostly achieved by not having to identify
the grapes are grown. Different the origins of the grape, or the varietal
conditions affect different varieties blends that make up the wine. And while
differently. A Shiraz style from McLaren it is true that some cleanskins are
Vale in South Australia, for example, is eminently drinkable wines, evidence
a heavier and darker wine than the same suggests that they are generally of a far
style from the Swan Valley in Western poorer quality than branded label
Australia, which tends to be lighter and products. It is suggested that you taste
more peppery. A Chardonnay from the the wine before purchasing any
Hunter Valley is more full-bodied than cleanskins.
one from Margaret River. Wine is a high fashion product, and wine
While knowing which vines are best suited trends emerge on a regular basis. The
to a soil type and climate is one aspect, best way to follow these trends is to
another is knowing when to pick the fruit shop using au -- comparing prices and
for particular effect. The fruit's suppliers, and following medal winning
flavour at the time of picking is a major labels.
character of the residual flavours of the






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