Wine has been an important part of the Western history ever since the Neolithic era (8,500 to 4,000 BC) when fruit juices fermented accidentally, leaving behind an amazing beverage for people to enjoy right up to the present. During the last two decades, the global wine market has become highly sophisticated and internationalized. In 2011, the worldwide wine industry is estimated to have a value of 273.1 billion dollars and a volume of around 21.3 billion liters. Global wine consumption is estimated to reach up to 26.12 billion liters by 2015.
The Western world is generally considered to be the traditional wine producing and consuming region of the world. However, the fact that 20 of the world’s top wine producers are located in 10 different nations show the vastly fragmented nature of global wine industry. Nevertheless, the market is becoming increasingly consolidated as numerous producers look toward developing countries to exploit the international market. Moreover, volume growth of worldwide wine has somewhat been dampened in recent times due to changing consumption patterns in key Western European markets such as France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, with younger consumers moving away from conventional daily wine consumption to more occasional drinking.
In Australia, wine is an essential part of the local lifestyle, associated closely with both leisure and business. Australian wine has built a worldwide reputation for its value and quality. Wines produced in Australia have won major international awards, competing successfully against longer-established global wine industries. On the international level, Australia was ranked seventh in the list of global wine producers in 2009 with 1,178,440 tonnes of wine production. Australian wine exports have grown at a fantastic pace in recent years and the country is consistently ranked amongst the world’s top 10 wine producing nations.
Being a hugely diverse country with nearly every soil type and climate, Australia is amongst a few wine makers that produce all major wine types. The country makes a complete range of esteemed wine styles from fruity, deep whites and full-bodied reds through to fortified, dessert and sparkling styles. Today, there are 2000 wine producing companies in Australia and the industry employs some 31,000 workers. Moreover, there are over 167,000 ha under vine throughout the country. Renowned Australian wines grace the menus of top restaurants in the world and can be found on the shelves of supermarkets and wine shops across the globe.
