Page 42 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Australia

40  INTRODUCING A USTR ALIA

The Wines of Australia

Grapes and wine have been produced in Australia virtually
since European settlement in 1788 (see pp54–5). The first
vineyards were planted in Sydney in 1791 and over the next
40 years vines were planted in the Hunter Valley (1827), the
Barossa at Jacobs Creek (1847), the Yarra Valley (1930), and
Adelaide (1937). John and Elizabeth Macarthur became
Australia’s first commercial wine producers with a small Locator Map
vintage in 1827 from their Sydney farm (see p131). In the Major wine-producing
regions of Australia
1960s, with the introduction of interna tional grape varieties,
such as Chardonnay, small oak-barrel maturation and
modern wine-making technology, the wine industry
really developed. Since the 1990s Australia has earned 0 kilometres 500
an excellent reputation for high-quality wines and 0 miles 500
there are more than 1,500 wineries operating today.

Leeuwin Estate winery in Margaret
River, Western Australia (see pp318–
19) is one of the nation’s largest
producers of top-quality table
wines, including Chardonnay
and Cabernet Sauvignon.

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The Father of Australian Wine
James Busby is often regarded as the father
of the Australian wine industry. Scottish-
born, he arrived in Sydney in 1824. During
the voyage to Australia he wrote the
country’s first wine book, detailing his
experiences of French vineyards. He
established a property at Kirkton in the
Hunter Valley, New South Wales, and
returned to Europe in 1831, collecting
570 vine cuttings from France and Spain.
James Busby These were cultivated at Kirkton and at Mount Hurtle winery produces
the Sydney and Adelaide Botanic Gardens. distinctive white table wines.
In 1833, having founded Australia’s first wine-producing region, It is located in one of South
he emigrated to New Zealand. Australia’s main wine regions,
McLaren Vale (see pp342–3).