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New World Wines in Industrial Age

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Vine cuttings from the Cape of Good Hope were brought to the penal colony of New South Wales by Governor Phillip on the First Fleet (1788). An attempt at wine making from these first vines failed, but with perseverance, other settlers managed to successfully cultivate vines for winemaking, and Australian made wine was available for sale domestically by the 1820s. In 1822 Gregory Blaxland became the first person to export Australian wine, and was the first winemaker to win an overseas award. In 1830 vineyards were established in the Hunter Valley. In 1833 James Busby returned from France and Spain with a serious selection of grape varieties including most classic French grapes and a good selection of grapes for fortified wine production. Early Australian winemakers faced many difficulties, particularly due to the unfamiliar Australian climate. However they eventually achieved considerable success. “At the 1873 Vienna Exhibition the French judges, tasting blind, praised some wines from Victoria, but withdrew in protest when the provenance of the wine was revealed, on the grounds that wines of that quality must clearly be French.” Australian wines continued to win high honours in French competitions.

A Victorian Syrah (also called Shiraz) competing in the 1878 Paris Exhibition was likened to Château Margaux and “its taste completed its trinity of perfection.” One Australian wine won a gold medal “first class” at the 1882 Bordeaux International Exhibition and another won a gold medal “against the world” at the 1889 Paris International Exhibition.

Chilean wine begun to modernize in 1851 when Sylvestre Ochagavia imported cuttings of French varieties. Sylvestre Ochagavia is credited with introducing the varieaties Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot noir, Cot, Merlot, Semillon and Riesling into Chile. Other wealthy wine growers followed suite. By the 1870s the wine industry was the most developed area of Chilean agriculture.

The region of Mendoza, or historically Cuyo, experienced an unprecedented wine-boom in the 19th century and early 20th century which turned it into the fifth wine growing area of the world and the first in Latin America. The establishment of the Buenos Aires-Mendoza railroad in 1885 ended the lengthy and costly trade with carts that connected these two regions of Argentina and sparked development of vineyards in Mendoza. Furthermore massive immigration to Río de La Plata mainly from Southern Europe increased demand and bought know-how to the old-fashioned Argentine wine industry. The vineyards of Mendoza totalled 1.000 ha in 1830 but grew to 45.000 in 1910, surpassing Chile which had during the 19th century had a larger areas planted with vines and a more modern industry. By 1910 around 80% of the area of Argentine vineyards were planted with French stock, mainly Malbec.

Classification Of Wine

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Regulations govern the classification and sale of wine in many regions of the world. European wines tend to be classified by region (e.g. Bordeaux, Rioja and Chianti), while non-European wines are most often classified by grape (e.g. Pinot noir and Merlot). Market recognition of particular regions has recently been leading to their increased prominence on non-European wine labels. Examples of recognized non-European locales include Napa Valley, Santa Clara Valley and Sonoma Valley in California; Willamette Valley in Oregon; Columbia Valley in Washington; Barossa Valley in South Australia and Hunter Valley in New South Wales; Luján de Cuyo in Argentina; Central Valley in Chile; Vale dos Vinhedos in Brazil; Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough in New Zealand; and Okanagan Valley and Niagara Peninsula in Canada. Some blended wine names are marketing terms whose use is governed by trademark law rather than by specific wine laws. For example, Meritage (sounds like “heritage”) is generally a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, but may also include Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec.

France has various appellation systems based on the concept of terroir, with classifications ranging from Vin de Table (“table wine”) at the bottom, through Vin de Pays and Appellation d’Origine Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure (AOVDQS), up to Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) or similar, depending on the region.

Commercial use of the term Meritage is allowed only via licensing agreements with the Meritage Association.

Portugal has developed a system resembling that of France and, in fact, pioneered this concept in 1756 with a royal charter creating the Demarcated Douro Region and regulating the production and trade of wine. Germany created a similar scheme in 2002, although it has not yet achieved the authority of the other countries’ classification systems. Spain, Greece and Italy have classifications based on a dual system of region of origin and product quality.

Dark & Light Skins

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Burgundy wine (French: Bourgogne or vin de Bourgogne) is wine made in the Burgundy region in eastern France, in the valleys and slopes west of the Saône River, a tributary of the Rhône. The most famous wines produced here—those commonly referred to as “Burgundies”—are dry red wines made from Pinot noir grapes and white wines made from Chardonnay grapes. Red and white wines are also made from other grape varieties, such as Gamay and Aligoté, respectively. Small amounts of rosé and sparkling wines are also produced in the region. Chardonnay-dominated Chablis and Gamay-dominated Beaujolais are formally part of the Burgundy wine region, but wines from those subregions are usually referred to by their own names rather than as “Burgundy wines”. Burgundy has a higher number of appellations d’origine contrôlée (AOCs) than any other French region, and is often seen as the most terroir-conscious of the French wine regions. The various Burgundy AOCs are classified from carefully delineated Grand Cru vineyards down to more non-specific regional appellations. The practice of delineating vineyards by their terroir in Burgundy goes back to medieval times, when various monasteries played a key role in developing the Burgundy wine industry.

Burgundy is home to some of the most expensive wines in the world, including those of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Domaine Leroy, Henri Jayer, Emmanuel Rouget, Domaine Dugat-Py, Domaine Leflaive and Domaine Armand Rousseau

However, some top vintage first growth Bordeaux wines and a few iconic wines from the New World are more expensive than some Grand Cru class Burgundies.

Its renown goes back many centuries; in 1522 Erasmus wrote: “O happy Burgundy which merits being called the mother of men since she furnishes from her mammaries such a good milk” This was echoed by Shakespeare, who refers in King Lear to “the vines of France and milk of Burgundy”.
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To accompany the finer wines, especially “the wines of the Cote [d’Or], it is recommended to taste some great cheeses like that of Citeaux, or ‘l’ami du Chambertin’ or ‘l’amour de Nuits'”. British wine critic Jancis Robinson emphasizes, “price is an extremely unreliable guide” and “what a wine sells for often has more to do with advertising hype and marketing decisions than the quality contained in the bottle.” While Grand Crus often command steep prices, village level wines from top producers can be found at quite reasonable prices. In 2010, the Burgundy region experienced a notable increase in internet coverage thanks to official efforts like the online broadcast of the famous Hospices de Beaune, as well as the efforts of independent wine aficionados, such as Bourgogne Live. Some burgundies are also increasingly valued as investment wines. Fans of Burgundy wine have been organizing events celebrating its virtues for decades. The most famous of these is La Paulée de Meursault.