Page 186 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sydney

184  TR A VELLERS ’ NEEDS

What to Drink in Sydney

Australia has no shortage of choice when it about the style of coffee but, at cafés with
comes to drinks, be it beer, wine, juice, coffee, in-house coffee roasters, the bean as well.
tea or water. There are wines to suit all tastes When it comes to bottled water, a mini-
and budgets, with many of the bargain-priced industry has grown around labels, with the
wines rating well in blind tastings. Niche craft novelty name, colourful label and quirky
beers produced on a smaller scale by micro- description on the outside sometimes as
breweries enjoy a cult status, while major popular as what lies inside the bottle. Juice
domestic and international brands are also bars cater to the health-conscious, offering
widely available. Sydneysiders love their superfood blends, exotic ingredients and
morning coffee, too, being particular not just extras such as protein powders.

Sparkling Wine
Australia is justly famous for its sparkling wines,
from Yalumba’s Angas Brut to Seppelts Salinger.
Tasmania has showed considerable promise
in producing some high-quality sparkling
wines, particularly Pirie from Pipers Brook.
However, the real hidden gems are the
sparkling red wines – the best are made
using the French méthode champenoise,
matured over a number of years and
helped by a small drop of vintage port.
The best producers of red sparkling wines
are Rockford and Seppelts. These sparkling
Domaine Chandon in the Yarra Valley produces wines are available throughout Sydney
high-quality sparkling wines from “bottle shops”, which sell alcohol. Angas Brut
premium
White Wine
The revolution in winemaking in the
1970s firmly established dry wines
made from international grape varieties
on the Australian table. Chardonnay,
Sauvignon Blanc, and more recently
Viognier and Pinot Gris or Pinot Grigio are
all popular. However, there has also been
a renaissance and growing appreciation
for Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and
Sémillon, which age very gracefully.
Australia’s other great wines are their
fortified and dessert wines. Australian
winemakers use Botrytis cinerea, or
Australian Botrytis noble rot, to make luscious dessert Some of the vines in Australia are the oldest
Riesling Sémillon wines such as De Bortoli’s “Noble One”. in the world
Grape Type State Best Regions Best Producers
Chardonnay VIC Geelong, Beechworth Bannockburn, Giaconda, Stoniers
NSW Hunter Valley Lakes Folly, Rosemount, Tyrrell’s
WA Margaret River Leeuwin Estate, Pierro, Cullen
SA Barossa Valley, Eden Valley Penfolds, Mountadam
Sémillon NSW Hunter Valley Brokenwood, McWilliams, Tyrrell
SA Barossa Valley Peter Lehmann, Willows, Penfolds
WA Margaret River Moss Wood, Voyager, Evans & Tate
Riesling SA Clare Valley and Adelaide Hills Grosset, Pikes, Petaluma, Mitchells
SA Barossa Valley Richmond Grove, Leo Buring, Yalumba
TAS Tasmania Piper’s Brook
Marsanne VIC Goulburn Valley Chateau Tahbilk, Mitchelton

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