Talk:Australian wine

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Australian wine is maintained by WikiProject Australia, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage of Australia and Australia-related topics. If you would like to participate, visit the project page.
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This article was the Australian Collaboration of the Fortnight (27 August - 10 September 2006). For details on the improvements made to the article, see the history of past collaborations.
To-do list for Australian wine: edit  · history  · watch  · refresh
  • include references currently on talk page to law and AWBC
  • regions map
  • List either all regions, some objective measure of "major", or none
  • Are there any differences to other wines/wine industries (esp European) aside from the fact of location?
  • Has Australia's geography influenced how our wine industry has developed, choice of grapes, etc?
  • How difficult has it been to overcome the cultural cringe and how has acceptance of Australian wine evolved overseas?
  • It seems to me the industry has really exploded only recently. Why was that? Was it just a bandwagon thing that led to the glut in overproduction?
  • Has the expansion of the wine industry influenced Australian alcohol consumption, eg cut into beer consumption?
  • more about the industry and regions instead of just lists of links, like... what led to those areas becoming wine regions? *Are some regions just piggybacking off the popularity of others?
  • Has wine growing significantly changed the farming landscape in any of these areas? (ie mass switches to grapes)
  • For the industry, what is the breakdown like? Is it virtually monopolised by a few big players, like say the Australian grocery industry, or are there lots of small family-type operations? How has that/is that changing, is there a move to consolidation? Do wine growers work together to promote their region or is it very competitive? Is the industry still expanding?
  • Some mention of industry awards woiuld be good
  • Information about the consumption of australian wine by region/country would be great. Are some countries more receptive than others to Australian wine?
  • What is the price difference between wine consumed domestically and that shipped to international markets?

Contents

[edit] Structure proposal

  • Intro
  • Industry history
    • A history of innovation
  • Major regions
  • International reception


Slapping the FA badge on this would be fantastic, but there's always a risk of it becoming a tourist pamphlet. I'll try a rewrite during the week. Hide&Reason 03:26, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wine regions

Does anyone know of an NPOV definition of major wine regions, or should we list them all from here? --Scott Davis Talk 09:25, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

I think a coverage map would work well here. What defines a wine region anyway? Vineyards? Wineries? -- Longhair 09:35, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
They're defined by law. Regulations under the AWBC Act I think. See Register of Protected Names for details. --Scott Davis Talk 12:29, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for that Scott. I've learned a great deal about wine from that link above. There's also an excellent coverage map linked from your reference above if somebody is capable of reproducing one just like it. -- Longhair 12:35, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
The act itself is at [1]. I'm not sure who makes maps these days. Donama made a few, I think, but she hasn't been editing much lately. --Scott Davis Talk 12:56, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
After seeing some excellent coverage maps from User:Froggydarb, such as this one, I've placed a request on their talk page to see if we can get something similar for this article. -- Longhair 03:01, 2 September 2006 (UTC)
Froggydarb has agreed to help us out. I've asked for a simple coverage map detailing the areas where wine is produced, bascially replicating what's already online at the link above, but if I've left anything out, feel free to correct me. -- Longhair 03:14, 2 September 2006 (UTC)
How's this coverage map look by Froggydarb? I've requested a legend be added but it's looking pretty good I think. -- Longhair 01:10, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
If possible, adding another line delimiting the boundary of South Eastern Australia would be good too, and adding the two Queensland regions at List of wine producing regions#Australia are missing, too. No other complaints from me. Thanks. --Scott Davis Talk 04:43, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
I've posted sample two over to the right for approval. -- Longhair 04:28, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

The Queensland regions probably don't matter too much as the map is zones, although they would be interesting. I would like to see the South Eastern Australia line added if possible, as it's the G.I. on Jacob's Creek. Otherwise, the map looks good. --Scott Davis Talk 13:55, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

I can easily make a line separating south eastern Aus from the rest, but if I go and outline all of Tassie and the NSW and Vic coastline it looks a bit dodgey. Is that alright? -- Froggydarb croak 09:39, 6 September 2006 (UTC)
Just the two straight lines is all I care about - hang them off the edge of the coastline if you like, to signify that islands (including Tasmania) are included. I don't think that outlining the coastlines is actually helpful for displaying the definitio, anyway. Thanks. --Scott Davis Talk 15:10, 7 September 2006 (UTC)
There we go. -- Froggydarb croak 08:24, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Improvements

So, how can we make this article better than simply an overview of the wine regions? What are some good angles to look at? (Asks someone who knows basically nothing about wine.) (Also, we're listing Wine for Dummies as a resource? Cringe!) --pfctdayelise (translate?) 05:29, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, one way that "someone who knows basically nothing about wine" can help is to list the questions that you don't know, and can't find the answers for. Then someone who does know can help add the info. You can also help with format, grammar etc --Scott Davis Talk 03:49, 2 September 2006 (UTC)
Well, OK, these are things I guess I would like to see addressed in the article. Are there any differences to other wines/wine industries (esp European) aside from the fact of location? Probably there are. Has Australia's geography influenced how our wine industry has developed, choice of grapes, etc? How difficult has it been to overcome the cultural cringe and how has acceptance of Australian wine evolved overseas? It seems to me the industry has really exploded only recently. Why was that? Was it just a bandwagon thing that led to the glut in overproduction? Has the expansion of the wine industry influenced Australian alcohol consumption, eg cut into beer consumption? I would like to see more about the industry and regions instead of just lists of links, like... what led to those areas becoming wine regions? Are some regions just piggybacking off the popularity of others? Has wine growing signifcantly changed the farming landscape in any of these areas? (ie mass switches to grapes) For the industry, what is the breakdown like? Is it virtually monopolised by a few big players, like say the Australian grocery industry, or are there lots of small family-type operations? How has that/is that changing, is there a move to consolidation? Do wine growers work together to promote their region or is it very competitive? Is the industry still expanding? --pfctdayelise (translate?) 07:23, 2 September 2006 (UTC)
  • About the Wine brands and Wine Companies sections, they seem to be related. Would it look better to have them flow on from eachother. Perhaps after the regions section? Jen Powell-Psmith 10:49, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] History

Woops. I'm very new to wiki ( this is my 2nd day) and I wasn't aware of the discussion page. I'm afraid I just rolled up my sleeves and started adding to the page. Am slapping own wrist hard now. I have a history background and a strong interest in wine so I'm happy to help fill out the history section. The wine industry in Australia has been strong for many many years, particularly my local (SA) area, but the recent growth has been in new and expanding regions. I am happy to do a bit more research on this side of things and work on it. I also added a little blurb about Tasmanian wine (they're very tasty!) inthe regions section.

I would also suggest it is worth mentioning that although the big companies have the lions share of most the market, there are hundred of smaller winemakers who produce very high quality wine. I'm not sure where you would fit this in. It would be good to mention a few, but then how many do you mention and how do you choose which ones to mention?

Just my thoughts for what they're worth. Currently having a sip of Grant Burge port to help me think. Jen Powell-Psmith 13:49, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Welcome to Wikipedia. :) Don't worry, being BOLD is encouraged! --pfctdayelise (translate?) 14:44, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Pop Culture

This really needs a reference to the infamous Monty Python sketch. It can't be coincidence that Australian wine only started entering general awareness after Monty Python. Rhialto 06:56, 7 March 2007 (UTC)