The Wine and Grape industry in Australia has a long and interesting history.

The first vines arrived in Australia in 1788 with Captain Phillip on board one of the ships of the First Fleet. It is understood that these vines were first planted out at Farm Cove - the site of the present Sydney Botanical Gardens. Unfortunately, the vines did not bear as expected, and were soon transplanted to a new location at Parramatta. In 1791, Governor Phillip reported that he had established a three acre vineyard at Parramatta, and that a seller named Schaffer had also planted one acre of vines.

In following years, many others attempted to establish winegrape growing and wine-making ventures in various regions of the colony.

Notable amongst these were the pioneering efforts of Captain John McArthur, to whom a grant of land some thirty miles from Sydney was made, and which he named Camden Park. This property played a major part in the development of all manner of primary industries in Australia, being particularly well-known as the home of the development of the merino sheep breed.

Another important figure was Gregory Blaxland, who in 1822 shipped 136 litres of wine to London where it won the Silver Medal of the Society for Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, now known as the Royal Society of Arts. Five years later, a larger shipment of 1800 litres of Blaxland's wine won the Gold Ceres Medal.

The first export excursions of the fledgling Australian wine industry were certainly successful and showed great promise for the future.

As European settlement spread over the Australian continent, so did the planting and propagation of the vine. By the turn of this century, Australian exports to the United Kingdom had developed to the stage where annual shipments reached almost one million gallons (4.5 million litres) of mainly full-bodied, dry red wines.

By the end of World War II, Australia was producing almost 26 million gallons (117 million litres) of wine per year. It was however the rapid influx of post-war migrants from continental Europe who brought with them their well-established wine culture which pushed the Australian wine industry into the next phase of growth.

The annual production of beverage wine for 2000-2001 stood at 1 034 million litres of which some 46% is now exported to over 104 countries throughout the World.

Winegrape growing and wine-making are now carried out in every State and Territory of Australia.

For more in-depth information, try these links:

Wine History by Valmai Hankel

Convict Creations - History of the Wine Industry

National Archives of Australia - Fact Sheet 26 - The wine industry in South Australia

History of Wine - a wine timeline covering all historical eras

Taken From The Australian Wine & Brandy Corporation:
www.awbc.com.au