Australia in all respects of civilization began to develop much later than Europe. If already in the VIIIX Century in Europe there were already steamboats and steam locomotives, then on the Green Continent the local population still used wooden plow. But after colonization, Australia began to develop rapidly. Europeans brought to the new homeland the achievements of science and technology of that time. Moreover, they began to settle in the same way as in their own homeland and naturally eat the same way. This also affected the fault.
At first, of course, they drank wine brought from England, France and Spain. But from the very beginning, attempts were made to grow grapes and make their own wine, especially since the climate of Australia is the best suited for growing grapes in these parts.
The first Governor-General of Australia Arthur Philip in 1788 ordered a vineyard to be planted at Cove Farm in New South Wales. The vine seedlings were brought not from France, but from the Cape of Good Hope and from Rio de Janeiro. The subtropical climate and fertile soil immediately yielded results.
History of Australian wines
The grapes grew very good, but unfortunately the wine did not work, or the grapes are not the same, or there was no specialist winemaker. Failure did not stop Arthur Philip, and he tried again, smashing a vineyard not far from Sydney. The vineyard gave an excellent harvest, but the lack of a good winemaker did not make it possible to make good wine.
But Gregory Blacksland in 1822, growing grapes in New South Wales, produced 140 liters of red wine, which received a silver medal in the London Society for the Support of Art, Industry and Commerce. And after five years, Blacksland wine won a gold medal.
But James Busby, a Scotsman from Edinburgh who emigrated to Australia in 1824, can rightfully be considered the founder of viticulture in Australia. As a professional winemaker, Busby engaged in the cultivation of vineyards and taught viticulture. However, good grapes were not obtained from grapes brought in from Africa and South America.
Then James returned to Great Britain in 1828, and then specially went to France and brought several hundreds of seedlings of the best varieties of French and Spanish vines from there. He founded several grape “colonies” in the Sydney Botanical Gardens in Victoria and South Australia, and in 1832 in New Zealand, where he was sent as the first representative – a resident of Great Britain.
Adapted to the local climate, these varieties became the ancestor of most vineyards, from which later they began to receive the famous wines of Australia: Shiraz, Cabernet, Riesling.
But despite all the efforts undertaken by enthusiasts of winemakers, the mass production of wine in Australia in the nineteenth century was not established. Due to the hot climate of Australia, the grapes quickly perepavit and the wine obtained from it had a high alcohol content. For this reason, wines from Australia for many years were not in demand in Europe, they were quite strong and not balanced enough. And, nevertheless, due to the low price in comparison with the European price, Australian wines gradually began to gain a market. But as such, the wine industry in Australia appeared in 1850.
Although wine production has since been constantly expanding, but only in the early 60s of the twentieth century. Australians seriously engaged in the cultivation of vineyards and the production of wine on an industrial basis. For the cultivation of grapes and wine production in Australia began to use the latest technology. Due to the hot climate and droughts in the vineyards, artificial irrigation began to be used. Of course, this is a rather expensive method, but it pays off handsomely because it allowed to control the growth and ripening of grapes, thereby regulating the acidity and sugar content. Moreover, the Australians completely switched to mechanized grape harvesting. This allows you to pick grapes at the right time in a short time.
With an increase in sales in the 60s of the twentieth century. the quality of Australian wines began to improve significantly. In 1981, vineyards already occupied more than 70,000 hectares in Australia. More than 4.5 million decaliters of wine were produced annually. Australian wine is recognized and appreciated in many countries around the world. The experiments of innovative winemakers, using modern methods of temperature control during the fermentation of wine material, made it possible to obtain fine, well-balanced varieties of wines with an original taste.
