Tyrone Courier - Features - Australian Wines: Forget the Beer, it's Wine Time Online

Features

Australian Wines: Forget the Beer, it's Wine Time Online

Tuesday, 19 April 2011

One of the most popular stereotypes of an Australian male is that he is typically macho, enjoys the 'footie' and the wild outdoors and nothing better than downing a few glasses of beer at the end of a working day. Stereotypical notions such as these need to be challenged with evidence and more has arrived with the recent news, reported by Hospitality magazine, that the number of companies producing fine Australian wines has increased over the past year to 2,477.

Does this seem to indicate that a large proportion of Aussie males are heading off to the store to buy wine, or are looking to buy wine online, than ever before?

Certainly, the evidence is mounting to suggest that this is the case. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported in January that beer consumption in Australia had fallen to its lowest level for 61 years and now makes up less than half of all the alcohol consumed in the country. In contrast, wine consumption rose from 28.89 litres to 29.36 litres per person, per year, from June 2008 to June 2009.

The results prompted economist Savanth Sebastian to remark on the News Medical website: "In the space of 30 years, Australia has been transformed from a beer drinking nation to a country of wine connoisseurs...wine consumption is at record highs with the equivalent of 38 bottles being drunk per person in 2008-09."

Even this monumental shift in drinking habits within Australia, though, is not enough to explain the rapid and sustained increase in the Australian wine market. The second major reason why Australia is now home to more wine companies than ever before is the fact that there is still a worldwide demand in the export markets for quality Australian wines.

According to the Wine Export Approval Report released in December 2010, Australian wine exports increased by two per cent during 2010, reaching 781 million litres of wine with a net worth to the economy of $2.1 billion (£1.35 billion). A significant proportion, heads to the country that takes more Australian wine imports than anywhere else in the world; the UK.

Certainly, Brits have a real appreciation for the delicate and aromatic flavours that are produced by the many Australian vineyards. On average, the UK consumer enjoys 27.9 litres of wine a year and a large proportion of these wines originate from Australia. Indeed, so fond are we of the differing tastes, textures and aroma of the best Australian wines that nationally we increased our importation of Australian wine by four per cent during 2010.

Fuelling this growth has been a real change of attitude in the UK towards wine that has mirrored the similar shift in culture that has been in evidence in Australia. The days of a person looking to buy wine being viewed as elitist or the domain of the wealthy has long since passed. The opportunity to buy wine has become very much an affordable and enjoyable part of life for many millions of consumers in Britain.

Oddly enough, it is not solely the fact that wine is now cheaply and readily available that is playing a key role in increasing the demand for Australian wines in particular. It would be wrong to assume that many wines produced in Australia are cheaper or inferior to their European or American counterparts. Some of the best Australian wines may be as delicate, tasty and full of flavour as any expensive European vintage.

What is appealing about Australian wines is that they are not only the highest quality, with more refined grapes such as Shiraz, Viognier, Riesling and Semillion regularly grown alongside the eponymous Cabernet Sauvignon, but they also offer excellent value. The increase in the number of wine clubs offering outstanding Australian wine to their customers, often at outstanding rates when they choose to buy wines online, has played a part in fuelling this new found appreciation.

Many wine clubs offer the views and guidance of experts and wine professionals to help the consumer discover the different tastes and flavours available when they are looking to buy wines. This education of society has helped refine our wine palate and allowed people to really enjoy one of life's little luxuries.

The knock on effect of this change in attitude in both Australia and the UK has been that each country has experienced a wine renaissance. A shift away from the beer drinking culture and into the more refined and genteel realms of enjoying some of the beautiful, rich and varied tastes available from the quality wine produced in the sunny, ripe vineyards of Australia.