Aussie Wine Month – 31 Australian Wine Facts
Have you heard? May is officially Aussie Wine Month! So no matter where in the world you are, I suggest you crack a bottle (or 5) of Australian wine in May!Wine Australia launched Aussie Wine Month in 2012 which makes this the sixth year for this month-long wino celebration. Whether you celebrate at home or attend one of the many fabulous events around Australia – it seems only right to sip on Aussie wine in May and support the industry that brings us all so much pleasure!
Aussie Wine Month gives us the chance to put the spotlight on the incredible wine we’re producing in our own backyard. There’s no need to look anywhere else when we have such diversity and varying wine styles,” said Andreas Clark, CEO of Wine Australia.
As part of Aussie Wine Month 2017, Wine Australia are running an amazing competition to win an ultimate winery experience. It’s simply way too easy to enter – all you need to do is be on Instagram, follow @Aussiewinemonth and tag your celebratory pictures with #Aussiewinemonth to win an absolutely lush sounding wine and art experience in Tasmania. Check out the details:
To celebrate such an important wino occasion, I thought it would be a great time to put together some facts on Australian wine that you may or may not already know. They may come in handy for the next quiz night you attend, for chatting up someone at a bar or just to start conversation over a glass of wine 😉
Australian Wine Facts
Ok stop right there! If you haven’t got a glass of Australian wine in hand while reading the below, then you’re not doing it right! Go grab yourself a glass right now… the post will wait… trust me, I won’t go on without you…
Now that you have a glass of fair dinkum good Aussie wine then sit back and soak up all the below wino knowledge…
- On average, Australia crushes 1.672 million tonnes of wine grapes per year (source: Wine Australia)
- There are approximately 65 wine regions across Australia (source: Wine Australia)
- Chardonnay and Shiraz are typically the top contender’s for Australia’s favourite drop (source: Wine Australia)
- Chardonnay and Shiraz are grown in all of Aussie’s 65 wine regions! (source: Wine Australia)
- The Great Southern is Australia’s largest wine region spanning a 200 x 100 kilometre area (for 49 more facts on Western Australian Wines click here)
- Approximately 1.6 billon glasses of Aussie wine are downed every year around the globe (source: aussiewinemonth.com)
- There are more than 155 different wine grape varieties planted across Australia (source: aussiewinemonth.com)
- The first wine grapes planted on Australian soil was in 1791 (source: australia.gov.au)
- Australia has no native grape varieties, vines were originally imported from Europe and South Africa in the late 18th and 19th centuries (source: australia.gov.au)
- The Granite Belt in Queensland has some of the highest and coolest vineyards in the country (source: news.com.au)
- Langmeil’s Freedom vineyard in South Australia’s Barossa Valley is the oldest vineyard in the country – it was planted in 1843! (source: news.com.au)
- Australia is one of the top 10 wine-producing countries in the world (source: australia.gov.au)
- In fact Australia exports approximately 750 million litres of wine a year (source: wikipedia)
- Taking the above into consideration, only about 40% of Australia’s entire production is consumed domestically on Aussie soil (source: wikipedia)
- Due to Australia being such a huge country, it means that almost every type of climate and soil type can be found which results in Australia being able to produce all the major wine types; red & white still wines, fortified wines, dessert wines and sparkling wines (source: australia.gov.au)
- Australia is home to cask wine, aka Goon!
- Australia is working on and has invented new ways to produce wines with less chemicals, aka preservative free wines
- Australian wines are sold in over 100 countries around the world (source: australia.gov.au)
- Australia’s most famous wine is Penfolds Grange – at one point the famed Robert Parker exclaimed that Grange “has replaced Bordeaux’s Pétrus as the world’s most exotic and concentrated wine” (source: wikipedia)
- South Australia and its wine regions have the largest wine productions in the country (source: wikipedia)
- Victoria has the most wineries in the country with a total of 747 wineries (source: aussiewinemonth.com)
- South Australia is second in line with a total of 706 wineries (source: aussiewinemonth.com)
- The Northern Territory is the only state in the country that doesn’t have any vineyards or wineries (source: aussiewinemonth.com)
- Across major countries for food and wine experiences, Australia is ranked 3rd behind France and Italy, however in front of Spain and Japan (source: aussiewinemonth.com)
- Gregory Blaxland was the first person to show the world Australian wine in 1822 when he travelled to England to share his wine with Royal Society of Arts members (source: aussiewinemonth.com)
- In 2015 the top 3 export markets for Australian wine were; the USA, the UK and China (source: aussiewinemonth.com)
- Western Australia contributes to only 5% of Australia’s overall wine production, yet… they contribute to 20% of the Australian premium wine market! (for 49 more facts on Western Australian Wines click here)
- The Swan Valley in Western Australia is the hottest and driest wine region in Australia and in the world (for 49 more facts on Western Australian Wines click here)
- Tasmania has 230 individual vineyards, 90 cellar doors and 1800 hectares under vine (source: winetasmania.com.au)
- There are 14 wine regions in New South Wales (source: nswwine.com.au)
- Australia’s fastest growing wine style is rose wines (source: Wine Australia)
And there you have it! 31 Australian wine facts for everyday in May! For more info on Australian wine and to keep up to date with all the Aussie Wine Month happens, make sure to follow Aussie Wine Month on Facebook & Instagram. For more annual wine celebratory days, check out my wine days calendar!