Australia

Question 1

2 smoke/fire damage vintages in Australia?

Answer 1

2009 was the dubbed ‘Black Saturday’ with significant fire damages that lead Australian wine scientists to become experts in smoke taint.

2020 also significant bushfires.

Question 2

Which Australian state was the oringinal birthplace of wine?

When were vines first planted?

Answer 2

New South Wales

Vines were originally bought over by Governor Phillip from the Cape of Good Hope on the ‘First Fleet’ and planted at Sydney Cove in 1788 but failed.

Question 3

Who was the first person to export Australian wine and win an overseas award?

Answer 3

Gregory Blaxland (1778-1853) was an English pioneer farmer and explorer.

He brought vines from the Cape of Good Hope and found a species resistant to blight taking samples of his wine home with him to England in 1822 and was awarded medals by the Royal Society of Arts.

Question 4

When and where did James Busby first plant vines in Australia?

Answer 4

Often credited with the birth of Australian wine as on his second voyage in 1831/1832 bought cuttings from France and Spain that were planted in the Sydney Botanical Gardens & Adelaide Botanical Gardens and
more notably at his house estate in Kirkton, Hunter Valley NSW.

Question 5

Australia’s (world’s?) oldest Shiraz vines?

Answer 5

Langmeil’s “Freedom” Shiraz Vineyard, Barossa.

1.4ha of dry-farmed Shiraz planted in 1843, soil is alluvial loam and red clay over limestone and ironstone.

new and used French and American oak barrels for one to two years, depending on wine and vintage. Wines are not fined and minimal (if any) filtering.

Question 6

Who bottles the oldest Mataro vines in the world?

Answer 6

Hewitson ‘Old Garden’

From the Koch family’s “Old Garden” of vines dating to 1853. Barossa Valley.

Question 7

Australia’s oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard?

Answer 7

Penfolds’ ‘Block 42’

Lies in Kalimna in the northern Barossa Valley and dates to 1888.

Claim the ‘oldest continuously produced CS vineyard in the world’…

Question 8

Name a producer of Semillon from Barossa?

Answer 8

Peter Lehmann’s “Margaret,” sourced from a 1929 Semillon vineyard, is a top example.

Piercing acidity, echoing the low-alcohol, austere styles of the Lower Hunter Valley

Question 9

Clare Valley GI

Unofficial 5 sub-regions North to South?

Answer 9

Northern GI’s are more open and warmer with warming Westerlies from the Spencer Gulf; terra rossa brown loam over limestone (lesser)

Clare
Sevenhill

Polish Hill - cooler also, loam over slate. Longest lived.

Cooler breezes from the St. Vincent Gulf
Terra Rossa soils over (higher) limestone.

Watervale
Auburn

Question 10

Fleurieu Zone

5 GI’s?

Answer 10

McLaren Vale
Langhorne Creek
Currency Creek
Kangaroo Island
Southern Fleurieu

Question 11

Margaret River GI

Climate and 3 influences?

Soil?

Answer 11

Warm Mediterranean climate with coastal influences from Geographe Bay, the Indian and Southern Oceans.

The Leeuwin Current (Backwards); warm winter waters, cool summer waters, rain.

Ironstone Gravels (over granite and gneiss) is known locally as Forest Grove soils. These soils are free draining with low water and nutrient holding capacities, limiting vine vigour. Some producers prefer sandier sites for their Chardonnay?

Question 12

Barossa Old Vine Charter Tiers (4)?

Answer 12

• Old Vines: min. 35 years
• Survivor Vines: min. 70 years
• Centenarian Vines: min. 100 years
• Ancestor Vines: min. 125 years

[OSCA]

Question 13

Adelaide Super Zone?

Answer 13

Mount Lofty Ranges, Fleurieu and Barossa

Question 14

Adelaide Hills

2 sub GIs?

Answer 14

Piccadilly Valley GI known for Chardonnay

Lenswood GI for Sauvignon Blanc in a citrus yet softer, less aromatic and pungent style than NZ.

The small city & unoffical sub-region of Mount Barker is here (ntbc with Mt. Barker GI, WA).

Question 15

Limestone Coast Zone
6 GI’s?

Answer 15

(Inland on state line w/ Victoria)
Padthaway 4,710ha
Wrattonbully 2,300ha
Coonawarra 5,720ha
Mount Gambier

(Coastal)
Mount Benson
Robe

[PWC Make Many Rouble]

Question 16

Penfolds
2 Coonawarra ‘Bin’ bottlings?

Answer 16

Bin 169 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz.

Question 17

Penfolds

2 Special rare releases in a homage to the Penfolds experimental show wines of the 60’s?

Answer 17

Bin 60a: Coonawarra Cabernet & Barossa Kalimna Shiraz - 1962 & 2004

Bin 620 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon & Shiraz – 1966 & 2008

[(6)2 + (0)4 = Bin 6(0)a]

Question 18

Hunter Valley Zone
Climate?
Mountain range?

Hunter GI
3 sub GI’s?

Answer 18

160km North of Sydney/West of Newcastle. sub-tropical and humid. Cloud coverage diffuses direct sunlight.

Broken Back Mountain Range

Upper Hunter Valley GI
Black silt loam, dark clay loam (higher ground)

Lower Hunter [unofficial] Friable loam (alluvial white sand over > Semillon), red friable duplex soils

Pokolbin GI
Broke Fordwich GI

Question 19

Southern New South Wales Zone
4 GI’s?

Answer 19

Canberra District
Gundagai
Hilltops
Tumbarumba

Question 20

Australia

Which state would you find the South Coast Zone?

2 GI’s and notable variety?

Answer 20

NSW

Southern Highlands GI
Nestled in the hills of the Great Dividing Range. Tempranillo #1 planted.

Shoalhaven Coast GI
NSW coastline about 75 miles south of Sydney. Best known for Chambourcin— a red French hybrid and Teinturier grape.

Question 21

Australia

Far North Zone

State?
GI?

Answer 21

South Australia

Southern Flinders Range GI

[‘F’ar & ‘F’linders]

Question 22

Big Rivers Zone

4 GI, and 2 that are shared with the neighbouring state?

Answer 22

NSW, located along the Victorian border to the west of the Great Dividing Range.

The big rivers in question are the Murrumbidgee (tributary to Murray) and Murray and the irrigation they provide is essential.

Murray Darling GI (sh w/ Vic– confluence of the Murray & the Darling & Murray & Murrumbidgee)
Swan Hill GI (sh w/ Vic)

Riverina GI (Murrumbidgee)
Perricoota GI

Question 23

Port Phillip Zone

5 GI?

Answer 23

Yarra Valley
Mornington Peninsula
Sunbury
Macedon Ranges
Geelong

Question 24

Geelong GI

3 unofficial sub-regions?

Answer 24

Moorabool Valley, North of Geelong the valley follows the river which is an old seabed. Warmer (more continental?) the original and modern centre of the Geelong
wine industry today. Limestone and Basalt.

Surf Coast and the Otways. South and West of Geelong. Sandy loams.

Bellarine Peninsula, East of Geelong that points out toward Mornington Peninsula, naturally more maritime.

Question 25

Central Victoria Zone 6 GI?

Answer 25

Bendigo Heathcote Goulburn Valley + Nagambie Lakes Strathbogie Ranges Upper Goulburn

Question 26

Northeast Victoria Zone 5 GI?

Answer 26

Glenrowan Rutherglen Beechworth King Valley Alpine Valleys

Question 27

Rutherglen Network (a producers syndicate) unoffical 4 tiers for Muscat & Topaque?

Answer 27

The basic level, Rutherglen Muscat, showcases the orange and rosy aromatics “Classic” retains intense varietal aroma but adds concentration and slight ‘rancio’ tones. “Grand” The greatest shift in colour and style. More oxidative tones and begin to show nutty, mature ‘rancio’ character. “Rare” The oldest, sweetest. Should taste as though it is at least 20 years of age—and often it will be much older

Question 28

Who was the first estate to plant vines in Tasmania? and when?

Answer 28

Claudio Alcorso, an Italian immigrant was planted Rielsing at his Moorilla Estate in Derwent Valley, 1956.

Question 29

Tasmania's 6 unofficial regions?

Answer 29

North, around Launceston: North West Tamar Valley - 1/3rd of prod. (oldest & largest) Pipers River South, around the capital Hobart: Derwent Valley Coal River - most important. Huon Valley - Aus' most southern wine region

Question 30

Australias smallest GI? Zone and 1 producer?

Answer 30

Peel GI, Greater Peth Zone, WA @ 52ha? Notably Peel Estate.

Question 31

Australia’s hottest GI? 2 notable estates?

Answer 31

Swan District GI, Greater Perth Zone, WA Thomas Waters, a botanist, planted Western Australia’s first vineyard here in Swan Valley GI in 1829. Two of the state’s oldest wineries both here in Swan valley: Houghton (1836) Sandalford (1840

Question 32

Greater Perth Zone 3 GI?

Answer 32

Peel GI Perth Hills GI Swan District GI

Question 33

South West Australia Zone (85% of WA prod.) 6 GI's?

Answer 33

Margaret River Geographe Blackwood Valley Manjimup Pemberton Great Southern

Question 34

Gladstones (1999) Margaret river catalogue is based on what? 6 unoffical sub-regions of Margaret River?

Answer 34

Not by soil profile but by the drainage direction of the rivers & creeks which further relates to the air flow systems. Yallingup Wilyabrup: Heart - red gravelly loam soils, Vasse Felix, Cullen and Moss Wood – all founded by doctors. Wallcliffe: a cooler subzone that follows the course of the Margaret River as it flows westward into the Indian Ocean. Leeuwin Estate and Cape Mantelle . Karridale: The Blackwood River flows into the Southern Ocean, home to some of the region’s best Sauvignon Blanc—crisp, cool, and often reflecting a pure snow pea character. Carbunup lies on the Geographe Bay east of Cape Naturaliste in Yallingup, Treeton is an inland region, with the warmest summer daytime temperatures but also the greatest diurnal variation.

Question 35

Great Southern GI 5 sub GI's?

Answer 35

Inland: Mount Barker (ntbc: w/ Adelaide Hills) Frankland River (Riesling) Porongurup Coastal: (CH & PN) Denmark Albany

Question 36

Queensland 2 GI and 1 variety of note?

Answer 36

West of the Great Dividing Range is desert like and unfit for viticulture South Bernett GI – most northerly wine growing region in Australia. Sub-tropical. Shiraz and notably Verdelho. Granite Belt GI – 700m elevation give the region a continental climate. Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. In the Range?

Question 37

What is the most northerly GI in Australia? 2 varieties of note?

Answer 37

South Bernett GI, Queensland Sub-tropical. Shiraz and notably Verdelho.

Question 38

Name 3 Barossa Ancestral vines vineyards?

Answer 38

Langmeil’s 'Freedom' vineyard (1843) presumably the world’s oldest Grenache and Mataro/Mourvèdre vines as well. Hewitson 'Old Garden Vineyard' (1853) Mataro/Mourvèdre. Penfolds’ 'Block 42' Kalimna,northern Barossa Valley and dates to 1888. Australia’s oldest plot of CS.

Question 39

What is the collaboration label between Yalumba and Grosset winerys?

Answer 39

Mesh, Eden Valley Riesling (Dry). Inaugural 2002.

Question 40

Name Penfolds 3 multi-country blends?

Answer 40

Penfolds Quantum Bin 98 'Wine of the World' (2018 inaugural) Napa CS (Oakville/Diamond Mountain) + Australian Shiraz. Penfolds II (2019 Inaugural) Ch. Belgrave (Dourthe family) Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot with Penfolds Shiraz. Grange La Chapelle (inaugural 2021) 50:50 blend of South Australian Shiraz and Northern Rhône Syrah from Domaine Paul Jaboulet Aîné.

Question 41

What is the name of Penfolds bottling made in China?

Answer 41

Penfolds CWT 521: (Chinese Winemaking Trial) is a premium red wine blending Cabernet Sauvignon from Shangri-La (Yunnan) and Marselan from Ningxia.