Tesco Wine Club

Amazing Australia!
Join Pierpaolo Petrassi as he takes us on a remarkable coast-to-coast
tour of Australia’s vast and varied wine-making regions.
A relaxing glass of wine in the
Red Centre, Rainbow Valley,
Northern Territory.
Australia may have a
history of growing
grapes dating back
to the 18th century,
yet even just 25
years ago few
people outside of Australia knew of
its wine. Since then it has become
firmly established on the world wine
map. It’s now the fourth largest
exporter of wine to the world and
we Brits drink more wine from
Australia than any other country.
Most of Australia is too hot for
grape cultivation and its vineyards
are mainly confined to the cool
southern coastline (remember in
the southern hemisphere the
further south you go the cooler it
gets). On the 2,500 mile journey
between Sydney and Perth, we’ll
see how the geography and climate
varies between the regions and
what effect this has on the wine.
Australia’s first vines were planted
near to Sydney Harbour
New South Wales
Where Australia’s love affair
with wine first began
Like many visitors to Australia, our
first port of call is the city of Sydney,
as it’s here that the earliest vines
were planted by settlers who arrived
with the First Fleet in 1788.
As the city developed, the grape
growers moved north to the
beautiful but challenging
Hunter Valley. With searing heat
and cyclonic downpours, it’s
incredible the region produces
wine at all, let alone ones that are
so good.
Hunter Valley Semillon is rightly
famous and a world classic –
delightfully grassy and citrusy when
young; magnificently toasty and
golden when aged. Hunter Valley
Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon can
be equally rich and complex with
bags of ripe fruit flavours.
While very decent Chardonnay
can be found here too, it’s in the
nearby region of Cowra that it
reaches its peak. Beautifully rich
and lush, Chardonnay from here is
the secret ingredient in many of the
best Chardonnay blends from
across Australia.
The hilltop region of Mudgee to
the north has vineyards of up to
3,000 feet above sea level and is
behind some of Australia’s greatest
reds. Shiraz and Cabernet
Sauvignon dominate and can be
The Hunter Valley is a popular
tourist trip from Sydney
incredibly long-lived.
By way of contrast, the fabulously
named Tumbarumba is an up-andcoming
district of New South Wales
in the Snowy Mountains. Much
cooler than the Hunter Valley, it’s
starting to produce outstanding
Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.
Aussie names
Thanks to their Aboriginal
origins, some Aussie wine
regions have some really
great sounding names.
Here’s what a few of them
mean:
Coonawarra honeysuckle
Mudgee a nest in the hills
Tumbarumba hollow sounding
ground
Wrattonbully a place of rising
smoke signals
Tesco Denman
Vineyard Reserve Semillon,
2006, New South Wales
“The satisfying, nutty
character of
Australian Semillon
makes it the perfect
winter white. This is a
fabulous example
from the Hunter
Valley.” Giles Kime,
November 2008
£7.99 75cl bottle price
Case of 6: £45.54
Ref 731-211-6
10.5%
“This is a wonderfully
juicy wine filled with
ripe cherries and
strawberries.”
Susy Atkins,
Stella Magazine,
Sunday Telegraph,
September 2008
£13.49 75cl bottle price
Case of 6: £76.89
Ref 124-178-61
4 March 2009 Tesco Wine Club Magazine Tesco Wine Club Magazine March 2009 5
TOURISM AUSTRALIA, AWBC
National Park Forests make the
Yarra Valley a beautiful
area to visit
Victoria
Home to some of the world’s
most beautiful vineyards
Victoria’s capital of Melbourne has a
mild, maritime climate ideally suited
to grape growing. When vines were
first planted here in 1834 they
thrived – it was only the expansion
of the city which forced them out.
Even today, most of Victoria’s
wine regions are situated within
130 miles of Melbourne itself. The
Yarra Valley is the oldest and most
beautiful, surrounded by mountains
and National Park forests. Here, the
climate is similar to Burgundy – the
spiritual home of Chardonnay and
Pinot Noir – and it is for these two
grapes that the Yarra Valley has
become internationally famous.
Pinot Noir from the region is
often elegant and restrained while
Yarra Valley Chardonnay has a
refreshing intensity that is a league
away from the heavy Chardonnays
that first put Australia on the map.
There’s more to Victoria than the
area around Melbourne. Way up in
the north-east is baking hot
Rutherglen, famous for its ‘stickies’
– gloriously rich fortified Muscats
that will turn the heads of
➽
any sweet white wine fans.
Tesco Yarra
Valley Pinot Noir, 2006,
Victoria
13.0%
Facts and figures
Victoria has over 850 wineries –
more than any other state – but
many of these are tiny and
account for only 15% of
Australia’s total wine output.
Melbourne’s maritime location
gives it a beautifully mild climate
McGuigan Discover
Pinot Grigio, 2006,
Victoria
A pear-scented white
with pineapple and
mango flavours from
the Del Rios vineyard
in Murray Darling,
Victoria.
£7.99 75cl bottle price
Case of 6: £45.54
Ref 104-973-18
13.5%
Mountain Blue
– half price
Rosemount Mountain Blue
Shiraz Cabernet, 2002,
New South Wales, 14.5%
A rare opportunity to enjoy a big Australian
red that’s beautifully rich and mellow,
thanks to significant bottle age. Mountain
Blue is one of Rosemount Estate’s flagship
wines, made from grapes grown in
Mudgee, on the western slopes of the Blue
Mountains, just to the north of Sydney.
A blend of 85% Shiraz and 15% Cabernet
Sauvignon, it is a supremely elegant wine
with delicious flavours of plums and spice
with hints of coconut and liquorice.
NOW
£60
WAS £120
SAVE £60
Sticks Chardonnay, 2005,
Victoria, 13.5%
Made from grapes grown in Australia’s cool
climate Yarra Valley near Melbourne, Sticks
is the definition of a modern Australian
Chardonnay. It’s a beautifully crisp,
refreshing wine that offers enticing aromas
of peach, citrus and melon. The flavours
are equally elegant with creamy tropical
fruits and a long aftertaste. With a few
years of bottle age this 2005 is ideal for
enjoying now. A terrific price for such a
classy Chardonnay.
NOW
£30
WAS £72
SAVE £42
£10.00
6 bottle case
Yarra Valley
Chardonnay
– save 58%
Equivalent 75cl
bottle price
Quote ref. 268-579-9
£5.00
6 bottle case
Equivalent 75cl
bottle price
Quote ref. 146-760-95
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