Viognier is perhaps as well known for red wines as it is white, even though it rarely occupies more than 5 per cent of a blend with shiraz. The opulently apricot-scented grape was most vocally championed by Yalumba in the 1990s, with there now near to 800 hectares planted across the country.
Best known for crisp whites from Sardinia and Liguria, vermentino is finding a new home in Australia, keeping fresh flavours and bright acidity even in some of our warmest regions.
Touriga nacional is best known as a Port variety, but it can play a compelling role in table wines, too. Although the grape has been planted in this country for a long time, it typically slipped into blends – mostly fortified –unacknowledged. It’s contribution of flavour and structure is no small thing, though, and the future for touriga as both varietal and blended wines in this country is a rosy one.
Tempranillo is unarguably Spain’s most recognisable variety, forming the bedrock of that country’s most famous red wines, as well as being one of one of the five key grapes from Portugal’s emblematic fortified – Port. In Australia, it has made a meaningful mark, but with limited genetic vine material, the potential for the grape is exponentially bigger, and with new clones now online that potential is starting to be fulfilled.
Shiraz dominates the Australian wine industry, accounting for nearly a third of this country’s vines. The grape’s traditional home is in France’s Northern Rhône, with wines that combine elegance and power, while Australia is perhaps best known for the muscular styles from warmer areas. Today, drinkers of Australian shiraz are spoilt for choice with expressions ranging from the elegant and spicy to the monumental.
In league with sauvignon blanc and muscadelle, semillon is responsible for the dry whites of Bordeaux, as well as the great sweet wines of Sauternes, Barsac et al. In Australia, semillon found its own unique niche in the Hunter Valley, making low alcohol, super-bright and zippy wines that age for decades, while in Margaret River it is more often than not blended with sauvignon blanc to make the region’s signature aromatic white.
Savagnin vines came to Australia by stealth, mistaken for Iberian heavyweight albariño, but what caused much angst at the time has evolved into something quite serendipitous, with makers referencing the grape’s heritage in France’s Jura to make ground-breaking styles.
When you think of sauvignon blanc, it’s hard not to think of New Zealand almost immediately, and the pungently expressive examples from Marlborough. But sauvignon also contributes to some of France’s most noble wines, as well as a huge diversity of expressions in Australia, both bottled solo and in blends.
Sangiovese is Italy’s most important grape, by both volume and reputation, and it has travelled the world, establishing serious outposts across the New World. In Australia, sangiovese didn’t really start making inroads until the late 1980s, but with improved genetic material, it is now making quite an impression.
Sagrantino has small but important role in the Italian region of Umbria, where it makes very long-lived wines. In Australia, its potential is being explored in warmer regions, as it tolerates heat well, retaining fresh acidity and not becoming overbearingly rich.
Hailing from France’s Northern Rhône, roussanne is slowly making a mark in Australia, with the grape well suited to warmer climates, producing wines of texture, fruit depth and freshness, while also making compelling expressions in cool climate zones.
Riesling is one of the world’s most versatile grapes, capable of making styles from aridly dry to lusciously sweet, plus everything in between, and with a transparency that reflects where it was grown like few – if any – other grapes. Hailing from Germany, it’s equally embedded in France and Austria, while the style made famous in the Clare Valley that once defined Australian versions has now been joined by a multitude of expressions, and from right across the country.
Prosecco has been responsible for an abundance of joyful and economical sparkling wines, flooding the market with fruit-forward expressions that make no pretence to rivalling Champagne. Australia makers have caught the Italian wave like few other countries, but a tussle over naming rights might see the grape rebranded as glera, which Italian law now mandates.
Primitivo and zinfandel were once thought to be different varieties, but what was one of the more intensive grapevine detective hunts eventually provided evidence for a clear match and a link to Croatia. In Australia, our near 50-year history with the grape has seen it take up a modest but meaningful presence.
Pinot noir is one of the wine world’s most revered grapes. Notoriously fickle to grow and make, it produces what many see as the pinnacle of red wine, where in Burgundy it turns out fragrant, ethereal wines that can age for decades. But pinot noir has also found many happy homes around the world, and none more so than in Australia across our cooler viticultural regions.
Pinot meunier is mainly a grape consigned to sparkling wine production, with still red wines relatively rare. But in Australia, though the output is modest, the grape has a meaningful place as a quality grape for red wine production (alongside sparkling wine), and with a noble history that stretches back to the 1830s.
Whether you call it pinot gris or pinot grigio, the variety has become an international star, pushing even sauvignon blanc out of the spotlight for those wanting a crisp, quaffable white without all the overt fruitiness. But the grape is much more versatile than that, making wines that can be dry and mineral or richly sweet and spicy, as well as skin-contact examples that are grippy and fragrant with red fruits and spices.
Best known for making agreeable if simple whites in Alsace, pinot blanc also makes wines with quite a bit more depth and stature in Italy. And while it is only present in Australia in very small plantings, the grape’s ability to retain freshness of flavour and acid in warmer conditions make it a good future prospect.
Australia accounts for a sizeable chunk of the petit verdot vines planted globally, but its place is typically as a minor adjunct in blends featuring Bordeaux’s more glamourous varieties. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have an impact, though, with a little going a long way, adding ample depth and freshness.
The principal red grape of Sicily, nero d’avola is incredibly resilient to the hot and dry climate, primarily producing mid-weight berry-scented wines with racy acidity. It’s no wonder, then, that the grape is gaining very firm traction in some of Australia’s warmer viticultural zones, with now over 50 wineries making their take on nero.
Nerello mascalese is seen as a very promising grape for Australian vineyards, with it often said to provide some of the excitement and style of nebbiolo, while the vine is both drought and heat tolerant. The great grape of Sicily’s Etna DOC, on the slopes of the volcano, it produces savoury and fragrantly mineral-tinged wines, but also makes approachably red-fruited expressions from less-vaunted territory.
Nebbiolo is the great grape of Piedmont, responsible for both Barolo and Barbaresco, but it has also found an important place in Australia, especially in cooler elevated vineyard sites.
Mourvèdre has been in this country as long as any variety, but it has often been sunk into blends, playing a vital role but rarely grabbing the mic. And while that remains the destination for most of this darkly fruited and tannic grape, it can play a pivotal role in those wines, and gets the occasional outing solo in both red and rosé wines.
Montepulciano is one of Italy’s most planted grapes, only pipped by sangiovese amongst reds, but its profile is somewhat lowlier. While it can achieve great heights, its reputation is generally built around fruit-forward and relatively softly structured styles. But montepulciano’s resilience to hot growing conditions is seeing it being pegged as a future star in this country.
Merlot has developed a reputation as a grape that produces soft and gentle wines, but it is far more than that. Although it’s capable of making wines of great elegance and detail when bottled solo, merlot more often makes a major contribution to blends, buffering cabernet sauvignon’s sterner side, adding depth and filling out the palate with fruit.
Mencía is an intensely characterful Iberian grape, with the wines marked by red and black fruit but notably with evocative florals and a clear channelling of the minerality of site. In this country for just on a decade, the variety is just starting to make its presence felt.
Hailing from France’s Northern Rhône, marsanne has found a notable home in Australia. Although the concentration of vines may not be significant, Victoria’s Tahbilk have successfully championed it as a standalone variety and are said to be in possession of the world’s oldest vines, while others are employing it in Rhône-themed blends.
Hailing from the Istrian Peninsula, malvasia is best known as a white grape from Italy, Croatia and Slovenia, but its ability to withstand hot vineyard conditions is making it a strong candidate for planting in Australia’s warmer regions, but its versatility will see it perform well in cool climates, too.
Malbec is a French grape that has become much more synonymous with Argentina, where it dominates the country’s vineyards. In Australia, malbec is typically blended as a minor component, but with better vine material and new thinking, malbec’s personality is emerging from the shadows.
Lagrein is Alto Adige’s finest local red variety, making flavourful and fruit-intense midweight reds from the Alpine Italian region, where bright sunshine and cold nights bring freshness and flavour. Australia is arguably lagrein’s second home, with few plantings in Italy outside its home region and even fewer around the world.
Grüner veltliner is Austria’s most significant grape, much revered in the country and responsible for some of their longest-lived wines. And while it has found few other places around the world to assert that pedigree, Australia – and primarily the Adelaide Hills – is mounting a case for it as a grape of substantial potential.
The great grape of the Southern Rhône, grenache also has many other compelling homes around the world, from its birthplace of Spain, to Italy, to California, to Australia – which just happens to have the world’s oldest productive grenache vines, planted in 1848. Today, a renaissance is seeing the grape championed, with makers in McLaren Vale arguably turning out the most compelling examples.
Gewürztraminer is a pungently aromatic grape, scented with lychees, rose petals and musky bath salts. It’s a variety that has long been thought of as ‘nanna’ wine, perfumed and often sweet, but the best expressions from Alsace are some of the world’s greatest wines, and cutting-edge makers in this country are fine-tuning it into exciting new expressions, both solo and as a part of blends.
Gamay – the sole red grape of Beaujolais – has had a slowish start in this country, but enthusiasm is rapidly growing. The potential for it to make engagingly distinctive wine is key, but the grape is also a lot less fickle than its cousin pinot noir, with sites and seasons too cool or too warm for pinot still capable of making top-flight gamay.
Friulano is revered in its home region of Friuli in Italy, and across the border in Slovenia, but it’s barely grown outside of it, except for vineyards in Chile that were long thought to be sauvignon blanc. Having previously championed pinot grigio in the 90s, Kathleen Quealy and Kevin McCarthy are now leading the charge for friulano in Australia.
Fiano is an ancient southern Italian grape – with its documented history stretching back to the Roman Empire – that produces wines from the thrillingly taut and mineral to the boldly flavoured and textured. It’s seen major growth in this country, with regions as disparate as the Adelaide Hills and the Riverland showing equal promise.
Dolcetto is often pushed down the ladder of importance for the main red grapes of Piedmont, but it is a characterful and engaging variety, with bright dark fruits matched with pleasing tannins.
Cinsault has been grown in Australia since pioneering days, but it has typically been swallowed by blends. However, its ability to shrug off hot and dry conditions and still make elegant wines with plenty of acidity is seeing its star rise in warmer zones like the Barossa Valley.
Chenin blanc is responsible for some of the longest-lived whites in the world, largely from its spiritual home in the Loire Valley. While it has been very much a bit player in Australia over the years, a renewed interest is seeing exciting expressions of chenin entering the market, with many hailing from Western Australia.
With an explosion of interest over the last few decades, chardonnay is now the world’s most planted white grape. With its ability to grow in varied conditions and make everything from sparkling wine, to lean and mineral whites, to full-bodied textural expressions, it is perhaps no surprise to see Burgundy’s key white grape become so dominant.
Hailing from Spain, carignan may yet find a more significant home in Australia, with retaining acidity very well and thriving in hot and dry conditions – a combination that we don’t lack for.
The world’s most prolific wine grape, cabernet sauvignon has been planted in Australia since the first days of viticulture here. Today, its prime homes are arguably Margaret River and Coonawarra, but the Yarra Valley and even the Hunter Valley mount very convincing cases, too.
Often buried in blends, cabernet franc has its own distinct personality, from making wines that are plush and silkily elegant, to those peppery and fragrant. In Australia, it is finally peeking out from behind cabernet sauvignon and making its own mark.
A grape once condemned as only good for simple bulk wines, blaufränkisch has proven its critics wrong in its native Austria, as well as slowly being seen as an interesting prospect in Australian conditions.
Barbera is the middle child of the Piedmont red grape family, with nebbiolo the elder and dolcetto always given youngster status. Barbera is in fact the most planted grape there, outstripping nebbiolo by a large margin, and it is grown throughout the country. It’s potential in Australia is immense, too, with it holding acid well and delivering very gentle tannins and plenty of flavour.
For a grape that was nearly extinct less than 50 years ago, and is still modestly planted in Italy, its home country, arneis has a surprisingly strong presence in Australia, with plantings in most cool climate regions.
Aligoté is hardly a household name in Australia, but the grape is a characterful one, and it can tolerate very cold conditions and resist disease, making it a good prospect for some of the more coolly marginal vineyards.
Spain’s premier white variety, albariño, got off to a shaky start in Australia, with a mix up seeing the French variety savagnin planted instead. That error has been remedied, with genuine albariño now in the ground, while those wayward savagnin vines have established their own distinct identity.
Aglianico is the noble grape of southern Italy. Though often compared to nebbiolo for its power and structure, it has its own distinct personality, and while it has been slow to take off, aglianico’s prospects of performing well in Australian conditions are very bright indeed.
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