Wines from Down Under

In the heyday of the Raj, the British Isles were the centre of their universe and Australia was considered 'Down Under] - tucked away at the other end of the world, fit only for deported convicts and home to strange and unique creatures like the kangaroo, koala bears, and the duck-billed platypus.

Australia is still a long way from anywhere, but has become considerably more civilised since it was first colonised by the Brits 225 years ago. For one, the Australians play a mean game of cricket (well, sometimes). For another, Australia is the sixth largest wine producer in the world, having churned out 1.1 billion litres of the stuff in 2010-11 - of which 66 per cent (721 million litres) was exported (only Chile exports a higher proportion of wine produced)! So there's a lot more Aussie wine floating around in most countries than almost any other wine, including here in India where they have a market share of nearly 30 per cent (total imported wine sales in India in 2012-13 were about 330,000 cases).

Above all, Australian wines are synonymous with Shiraz (renamed by the ever-enterprising Aussies, thereby differentiating their wines from the French 'Syrah', which is the same grape) - although today they produce wines from all international grape varieties.

The four key Australian wine areas are:

Hunter Valley: The hills near Sydney where wine production was first started in 1830.

Yarra Valley: The area north of Melbourne, home to some of the earliest vineyards and wines.

South Australia: Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, and Coonawarra, all near Adelaide.

Western Australia: Mainly the Margaret River area.

As may be expected, most wine production in Australia is concentrated in the cooler temperate regions of the coastal areas; there are also extensive vineyards in the Riverina area of New South Wales/Victoria, source of much of the continent's good, cheap wines - brands like Hardy's, Yellow Tail, and Jacob's Creek.

But there are also many high quality wines from Australia: Penfolds Grange achieved iconic status in the 1950s and has remained at the top of its quality pinnacle ever since.

A bottle of the 1951 vintage sold for A$50,000 in 2004!

The best source for Australia's best wines has to be the listing of 123 wines from Langton's, an auctioneer and wine merchant (www.langtons.com.au), which classifies them into Exceptional (17 wines), Outstanding (32 wines), Excellent (36 wines), and Distinguished (38 wines). The list includes brands like Bass Phillip, Henschke, Leeuwin Estate, Mount Mary, Torbreck, Jasper Hill, d'Arenberg, Tahbilk, Cape Mentelle, Lindmen's, and Rolf Binder (I'm not enumerating the labels): wonderful wines all (I'm sure), some of which are already available in Star hotels.

Wines I've been drinking: Naturally a brand from Langton's list: the Rolf Binder Halliwell Shiraz-Grenache 2009 (90 points Robert Parker, Rs 2,688 in Banglore, imported by Wine Park Mumbai) from the Barossa Valley. A powerful, spicy, full-bodied red, with complex aromas of cherries and berries and hints of pepper, refined tannins, and a long finish. Unfortunately it's available mostly in hotels - at retail only Madhuloka's wine boutiques in the Bangalore Club and UB City carry the label, which deserves wider distribution.

Here's mud in yer eye, Mate!

Alok Chandra is a Bangalore-based wine consultant