A toast to Australia

Exploring winemaking in the land down under

- NIKHIL AGARWAL

The first thing that comes to mind when you think of Australia in terms of wine, is the sheer size of the country. From East to West, one could fit in most of Europe including the United Kingdom in it. With this size, you also get multiple different climates, soils, and grape varieties that thrive in different regions across the country. I have been lucky enough to visit most of them through a scholarship received from Wine Australia many years ago and then a few times after to cover major wine festivals.

Australia makes wine from a staggering number of grape varietals, with each region undergoing a trial and error process before reaching a level of perfection and excelling in what they do best. Australian wine is nothing but smart wine in a bottle which is presented in a refreshing and welcoming way. Due to an excess of diversity, there is no particular style you would prefer that they cannot give you an option for. Now while some grape varieties are famous globally, in Australia they also experiment with grape varieties like Sangiovese, Nebiolo and many more that you don't see outside Italy. The Australians' commitment to producing quality wine is something I truly admire.

To give you a sense of quality, their fine dining scene is perhaps one of the best in the world, now globally gaining recognition because of shows like Masterchef Australia, with great food comes great responsibility to pair it with the correct wine. In India what we see is not even a glimpse of what Australia has to offer but that seems to be changing now slowly.