Wine
10 More Facts About Australian Wine
WE LOVE WINE!
Fact 1: It’s official – wine has topped the popularity stakes in Australia, beating beer and spirits. A recent survey conducted by Roy Morgan revealed that over an average four weeks, 67.5% of Aussie’s of legal drinking age will drink at least one form of alcoholic beverage – 42.8% will consume wine at least once, while 38.2% will drink beer and 26.3% spirits.
HOW MANY GRAPES?
Fact 2: If you’ve ever sat there wondering how many grapes it took to make the wine you were sipping on, well, here’s the answer – about 600 to 800 individual grapes were squished to make each 750ml bottle, that’s from three to 10 clusters of grapes, depending on the variety.
LOTS AND LOTS OF LITRES
Fact 3: The total wine grape crush in 2018 was 1.79 million tonnes, of which South Australian regions accounted for 879,000 tonnes (49%). From this, winemakers produced 1.29 billion litres of wine – giving an average extraction rate of 716 litres/tonne.
BRINGING IN THE BIG BUCKS
Fact 4: According to Wine Australia, there are estimated to be 2468 wineries and 6251 grape growers employing 172,736 full and part-time employees across 65 winegrowing regions in Australia, contributing over $40 billion annually to the Australian economy.
STILL NUMBER 1
Fact 5: Shiraz accounts for 30% of Australia’s total vineyards. The latest figures on total vineyard area in Australia are: total area 135,133 ha, of which Shiraz accounted for 39,893 ha (30%). Chardonnay was the largest white variety with 21,442 ha (16%).
HERE'S CHEERS TO US
Fact 6: Each day over 30 million glasses of Aussie wine are enjoyed around the world in over 110 international markets.
IT’S ALL IN THE MAKING
Fact 7: It’s the winemaker who determines how sweet a wine is, not the grape variety. Most grapes can be made in a dry or sweet style, it’s the addition on residual sugar during or after the ferment that makes the difference.
AUSTRALIA’S FATHER OF WINE
Fact 8: Australia's first grape vines were planted in 1788 at Sydney's Farm Cove. These vines were brought by Captain Philip in one of the ships of the First Fleet, but James Busby is considered to be the founding father of the Australian wine industry – in 1833 he shipped hundreds of vine samples he had collected from Spain and France to New South Wales and donated them to the government.
HISTORY-MAKING HUNTER VALLEY
Fact 9: One of the first wine shows in Australia was held in the Hunter Valley in 1848 and the Hunter Valley Wine Show has been held continuously since 1974.
FILL IT UP
Fact 10: Cenosillicaphobia is the fear of an empty glass, and is something we hope you never have to deal with.