Do Australian wine makers need to be braver?
A prominent wine writer has suggested Australian wine makers may need to be more adventurous in order to gain even greater notoriety around the world.
Well known UK wine and food writer and broadcaster Andrew Jefford has taken a year-long position at the University of Adelaide to research Australia’s wine regions.
As Senior Research Fellow at the University and Winewriter in Residence to the Australian Wine 2030 research network, Mr Jefford will undertake research and write a book about how great Australian vineyard sites differ from each other and from those elsewhere in the world.
Mr Jefford indicated that some Australian winemakers may need to be “a bit braver” in allowing regional characteristics to shape their wines.
“Australia’s astonishing wine success overseas has been built on consistency, strong brand marketing, its newness, to some extent fashion, and the clarity and straightforwardness of the wine,” he noted. “But the Australian industry needs to deliver more if it wants to maintain and strengthen its position. A sense of place is the guiding principle of gastronomy and fine-wine creation the world over. There is an Australian vanguard which appreciates that, but it’s still missing from the typical Australian export wine.”
Mr Jefford says the strong “Australian approach” to winemaking is ripe for evolution.
Mr Jefford is known for his writing and broadcasts about different places in the world and the foods, drinks and scents associated with them. He’s won many awards for his work including three Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards in the last three years.
Over the past 20 years he has led a highly successful career as a writer and broadcaster in the UK including many years with the Evening Standard and BBC Radio Four and, currently, the Financial Times, Decanter, World of Fine Wine and Waitrose Food Illustrated.
