The grapes we grow

We have just received the 2009 vintage report from the Winemakers Federation of Australia and as usual it makes fascinating reading.

If you read the wine columns in the newspapers you could be forgiven for thinking that these days the only white grapes we grow are Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio and most of the red grapes are the newer trendy Italian varieties such as Sangiovese, Nebbiolo and Barbera. Well, you couldn’t be more wrong.

The most widely grown red varieties are, in order of volume: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir – almost exactly what the traditionalists would expect. But then come varieties such as Petit Verdot, Ruby Cabernet, Mataro, Grenache and so on. The Italian varieties barely get a mention. Sangiovese was a miserable 0.2% of the total crush, Barbera a tiny 117 tonnes and Nebbiolo so small it didn’t even appear amongst the “also grown.”

When it comes to the whites the results are even more astonishing. Chardonnay still accounts for almost half the white crush, followed by Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and, believe it or not, Colombard. We have long suspected that Colombard is, as Jancis Robinson politely puts it “blended with more fashionable grape varieties to add volume and provide useful natural acidity” (Pinto Grigio anyone?) But what came fifth? Muscat Gordo Blanco.

What on earth is Muscat Gordo Blanco? Well, it’s a pseudonym for a grape better known to the rest of the world as Muscat of Alexandria and which, in typically Australian fashion we shorten to Lexia. This year we crushed 56,000 tonnes of it which, at 1,000 bottles per tonne translates into 56 million bottles or bottle equivalents of Fruity Lexia.

Scary isn’t it.