May 2022 Wine of the Month Club

The wine world is broken into two main categories; Old World and New World.  The phrase “Old World” connotes wines produced in countries with a long-established history of wine production – most notably, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Portugal. “New World” wines are those produced outside the traditional winegrowing areas of Europe and the Middle East, in particular from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States. For perspective, Italy and France have been making wine since the BC era (some say as far back as 4000 BC) while the U.S. and Argentina started in the 1500s, which make Australia one of the newest of the “New World” wine regions.

The country of Australia has no native grapes, and Vitis vinifera varieties were introduced from Europe and South Africa in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Vine cuttings were originally brought to New South Wales in Australia by Governor Phillip in 1788. These vines did not produce viable grapes, but other settlers persevered and ended up cultivating vines for winemaking. Australian wine became available domestically in the 1820s. In 1830 vineyards were established in the Hunter Valley, and in 1833 James Busby, the “father” of Australian winemaking, took a trip to France and Spain and brought back a vast selection of vine stock that would later thrive. By the late 1800s, several Australian wines were winning awards at prestigious International Exhibitions. Fast forward 100 years, and in the 1980s Australian wines started to get a reputation as being over-extracted, over-ripe, high alcohol gut busters. Then there’s the screw cap; Australian wine producers sought out screw caps as early as 1964 in order to avoid cork taint, but the public’s perception of screw caps being “low value” wines persisted. However, as we entered the new millennium, Australia’s wine production has really hit it’s stride (they are now 6th in the world in total wine production), offering a full range of wines for the world to enjoy.

On the old side of the “new world” winemaking in Australian is the Tyrrell family, who have been producing outstanding wines in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales since 1858. They now share the position of being the second oldest continuously owned and operated family winery in Australia. Handed down through four generations, the company is now managed by Bruce Tyrrell. He has had a broad range of involvement in the wine industry and is currently a Director of the Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Association and the Hunter Valley Research Foundation. In 2006, Bruce Tyrrell was recognized with an Order of Australia medal for his contribution to the Australian wine industry; improving grape quality, research, tourism and export opportunities. Under Bruce Tyrrell’s management Tyrrell’s Wines will remain family owned and continue with the simple philosophy of striving to be one of Australia’s pre-eminent family owned wine companies, producing the highest quality wines possible at all levels. Bruce Tyrrell’s children Jane, John and Christopher all currently work in the business.

On the new “new world” side, we have Unico Zelo. In 2014, Brendan and Laura Carter founded Unico Zelo in Lobethal, in the Adelaide Hills area of South Australia. They fell in love with making wine in the most sustainable and non-impactful way possible. Team Unico is the realization of Australian Culture, with all of their products honoring the uniqueness and fragility of the land. Their goals are to be industry leaders in best practices of viticulture and winemaking in the Australian wine industry through lower water use in the vineyard and minimal intervention practices in the winery, and to elevate the global perception of Australian wine.

Cheers,

The PlumpJack Wine Team