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Australia
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ustralia is the most influential wine nation of the last three decades - after almost 200 years of rehearsals before really hitting the world stage.
We export wine, winemakers and techniques to every corner of the world and now tussle with France as the UK's favourite wine country and have taken giant strides ahead of Spain and Italy in emerging markets like China.
Wine People's Wine Director, Andrew Stead, sees many reasons for the success:
"Vines came with the First Fleet but you'd have to credit migrants from wine savvy lands like Germany, Italy and what-was-then Yugoslavia for giving us a great start.
The discipline of a pretty ferocious show system means there's nowhere to hide if quality is poor (forgetting cleanskins). In our hot country, refrigeration revolutionised winemaking for the better. And our two top 'wine universities' keep refreshing the industry with bright new talent.
You'd also have to say most Australians in the wine trade are there because it's what they love. Quite different from older wine countries where sometimes you meet people who inherited a chateaux or two so it's really just a business to them.
And if you don't like an Australian wine the winemaker will try and make it more to your tastes. Just try that with most French vignerons. You don't like my wine, Monsieur? Pah!"
The Coonawarra, the Barossa and Hunter valleys, McLaren Vale, Margaret River ... these and many more top regions provide some of Australia's most celebrated wines.
The next big push for Australia is towards regionality - magic pairings of grape and region that give beautiful wines with a sense of place ... 'somewhereness'. For Australians, learning about classics like Barossa Shiraz, Margaret River Chardonnay, Hunter Semillon or Yarra Pinot Noir is a rite of passage to becoming a serious wine drinker. That message needs promoting overseas too.