Black Friday: Save 20% on Annual memberships for a limited time! Join now

Australia – out of the box

An aerial view of tables and people at the Australia trade tasting in London, January 2024

There's a lot more to Australian wine than Shiraz. 

The London Australia Trade Tasting stands as Europe’s most extensive showcase of Australian wine, featuring over 750 wines from 200 wineries. I needed to develop a solid strategy to taste as many wines as possible at the event, so, inspired by Tam’s review of Max Allen’s book, Alternative Reality: How Australian wine changed course, I went on a mission to discover what Australia is working on beyond Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon – the four varieties that account for roughly 70% of the country’s production.

To my excitement...