Besides being one of the most sought after tourist destinations int he world, and being home to some of the biggest actors and musicians in Hollywood, Australia is also world renowned for some of the most magnificent tasting wine you’ll ever experience. While it may not have the years of tradition that some of the old world wine making regions have, Australia does manage to be on of the top four exporting countries in the world when it comes to wine. What may be even more surprising, is that Australia exports much of that wine to countries like Spain, France and Italy, that have no shortage of discriminating wine tasting pallets. That alone, should be enough to peak your interest.
That’s not to say, that Australian wine is new to the game. The Aussies have been creating and selling wine since the early 1800′s. Whenever I go shopping for wine, especially if I’m looking for something new and a little different, I make it a point to peruse the Australian aisle of my local wine retailer. Even when I’ve tried stuff I’ve never had before, I’m usually delighted by the experience. I don’t think, I’ve ever had a bad bottle of Australian wine. Now, coming from someone who usually goes by price (higher is better?), and cool looking labels, I think that’s saying something. I tend to prefer the drier wines, that have a less assuming taste. A mild sweet and oaking aftertaste is fine, but nothing to strong as the wine first trickles over my taste buds.
I particularly like the Cabernet Sauvignon wines that I’ve had from Australia. What I found a little surprising when I was doing some research on the wines of Australia, was that grapes were not native to Australia. They’ve all been imported from other regions of the world. Well, they’ve come a long way from a country with no grapes to one of the leading exporters in wine over the years. Goes to show I guess that tinkering with mother nature is not always a bad thing afterall.