REIVINDICACIONES POLÍTICAS

Auction houses generally operate as a secondary market for wine sales, selling wines that have already been purchased by private collectors to other private collectors, as well as the trade (wine merchants,restaurants, hotels, and others). Collectors may wish to sell for a variety of reasons, including the four d’s—death, debt, divorce, and doctor’s orders—but most find that since wine is a readily avail- able commodity and they desire a wide range of drinking options, they buy more than they canconsume and at some stage wish to sell some of their collection (usually to make room for new purchases).

The wine auction market has existed for around 300 years, with both the major international houses, Sotheby’s and Christie’s, holding auctions in the United Kingdom. The market was mostly confined to a small group of knowledgeable collectors. The major change in wine auctions occurred in 1994, whenNew York changed its laws to permit wine auctions (prior to 1994, auctions were permitted inCalifornia and Illinois, but were again mostly confined to a small group of col- lectors). This change had a dramatic effect on the global wine market and prices for fine and rare wines (defined here as wine priced over $50 per bottle and not in mass distribution). In New York, Sotheby’s and Christie’s teamed up with the topretailers, Sherry-Lehmann and Zachys, and provided a secondary market for wine that immediately became international in nature. Collectors now had a legitimate resale market, which opened up the opportunity for wine buyers to collect wine for both investment and drinking. The timing was also fortuitous, as interest in wine and food was experiencing enormous growth, with such publications as the Wine Spectator andRobert Parker’s Wine Advocate fueling consumers’ appetites. Auction sales have since increased by 770 percent, from $23 million in 1995, the first full year of wine auctions in theUnited States, to more than $200 million in 2007.

The major auctioneers worldwide remain the two international houses, Sothe- by’s and Christie’s, with combined sales of $121 million in 2007. However, in New York, they have been joined by two other retailers turned auctioneers, Zachys and Acker Merrall & Condit, which had combined sales of $108 million in 2007.

The wines offered at auction range from $25 per bottle upward, with the major- ity of the value of the sales coming from first-growthBordeaux and Burgundy’s Domaine de la Romane´e Conti (DRC). At Sotheby’s, Bordeaux represents 72 per- cent of auction sales and Burgundy another 16 percent. The average lot price over the last three years was $5,242 (or an approximate bottle price of $500). The top lots naturally tend to get the most attention from the press. For example, Sothe- by’s sold a jeroboam (4.5-liter bottle) of 1945 Chaˆteau Mouton Rothschild for $310,700 and a case of 1990 DRC for $262,900, while in September 2006, Christie’s sold six magnums of 1945 Mouton Rothschild for $345,000. Never- theless, there are many lots of excellent mature drinking wine that sell for between $25 and $100 per bottle.

The collectors who sell wines in the United States are mostly (95 percent at Sotheby’s) American private collectors, with the balance being restaurants, hotels, orwineries. The size of these consignments varies from $20,000 to

$20 million. In 1994, it was unthinkable for a collector to have a $10 million wine collection; by 2008, some collections were approaching the $100 million level. The enormous growth in the size of collections and demand for the greatest wines (the best wines from the top producers in the greatest vintages) has led to a significant increase in the number of fraudulent wines appearing on the mar- ket, so collectors should exercise caution when buying such ‘‘trophy’’ wines and seek the counsel of trusted experts who can verify the provenance and authentic- ity of these wines.

The buyers at auction include some who buy wines to drink them and others who solely invest in wine, though generally it is a marriage of the two. The North American market has been driving the increase in prices, with very strong demand over the past decade. However, in the last two years, many more international buyers have been coming into the market, particularly fromAsia (Hong Kong, India, Taiwan, and South Korea, among others), South America, and all over Europe. Since the late 1990s, the average age of buyers has also decreased, from around 60 to nearer 40 years old.

Jamie Ritchie

Further Reading

Hermacinski, Ursula. The Wine Lover’s Guide to Auctions: The Art and Science of Buying and Selling Wines. Garden City Park, NY: Square One, 2007.

AUSTRALIA

Although wine has been made in Australia for more than 200 years, it was not until the late twentieth century that most of the world started to take notice. The reasons for this apparent sudden renown were many. Internationally, there werephylloxera outbreaks in California and less-than-stellar vintages in Europe. Meanwhile, Penfolds Grange from South Australia received the number-one spot on the Wine Spectator’s Top 100 in December 1995. When Australia started to come on, it came on strong. Suddenly, Australia appeared to be leading the way in wine research, breaking records for growth, and focusing on world domination.

For decades now, Australia has been known as an industry leader in viticulture, winemaking, and wine marketing. The country’s early acceptance ofmechanical harvesting helped keep prices down, just as rotofermenters kept flavors forward. Australia’s commitment to screw-capclosures started a world trend. And with the launch ofYellow Tail in 2000, Australia created the ‘‘lifestyle wine’’ category that quite possibly changed the way Millennials think about wine.

The Early Years. When Capt. Arthur Phillip sailed from England into what is now Sydney Harbor with the First Fleet in 1788, he had the vine cuttings that were used to establish Australia’s first vineyard. These cuttings came fromSouth Africa (thus the Australian use of Shiraz rather than Syrah for this variety). With no viticulturalists and very few farmers, those first vines did not survive, but others soon did.

Gregory Blaxton arrived in Australia in 1806 from England. He experimented in viticulture and was the first to export wines back to England. In 1828, his ‘‘tawny red’’ received a gold medal in Europe. Around the same time, James Busby, who had studied viticulture inFrance, published a guide to winemaking in New South Wales. He then embarked on a European tour from which he returned in 1832 with 570 French and Spanish vine cuttings. It was not long after that that wine grapes were planted across Australia. There were hardships along the way— depression and phylloxera in the late 1800s, but thankfully noProhibition. Today, Australia can boast some of the oldest vines in the world.

After World War II, a wave of immigration brought many newcomers from wine-producing countries—Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece—along with their wine-drinking habits and viticultural know-how. Australia’s new winemakers cared little for traditions or regulations. With grapes of all kinds being grown in adjacent vineyards—even side by side in the same vineyard—winemakers would blend to their own tastes. The practice of blending varieties that never mixed in their home countries or juice from different regions became the new tradition.

Geographic Indications. Geographical indications (GIs) were introduced in 1993 to allow Australia to fulfill its agreements with the European Community on wine-labeling laws. As the name implies, a GI simply defines the border of a region, as with the American viticultural areas in theUnited States. Much less restrictive than theappellation systems of Europe, the only qualification for a wine to carry the regional name is that it must contain at least 85 percent of its fruit from that region. No viticultural or winemaking guidelines are imposed.

Australia is a big country—about 14 times the size of France and only 4 percent smaller than the United States. Scattered mostly along the coasts in the southeast and the southwest, the 64 different wine regions have very diverse climates, elevations, and soil types. Five of the best known follow:

• Hunter (New South Wales): With an unbroken history of winemaking back to 1825, Hunter’s most acclaimed wine is the long-lived Semillon, thoughChardonnay is, statistically, the most important.

• Yarra Valley (Victoria): First planted in 1838, it fell into obscurity during the depres- sion era only to regain recognition and production levels in the 1990s. Quite cool, with many hills and valleys, the Yarra is known forPinot Noir and Chardonnay. • Barossa Valley (South Australia): Founded in 1847, Barossa prizes its century-old

bush-trained vines of Shiraz and Grenache.

• McLaren Vale (South Australia): With the Mount Lofty Ranges on one side and the ocean at its feet, McLaren Vale offers a variety of microclimates, as well as breath- taking vistas. Growers rely on evening breezes to keep the temperatures down. • Margaret River (Western Australia): Relatively new, first planted in the 1970s,

Margaret River catapulted into fame for Chardonnay andCabernet Sauvignon. Surrounded on three sides by the seas, it is truly maritime in climate.

In addition to the GIs, labeling regulations allow ‘‘zones.’’ Zones include several regions combined. For example, a wine labeled ‘‘Limestone Coast’’ can include fruit from Coonawarra, Wrattonbully, Padthaway, and Langhorne Creek. Also, wines can be labeled for a state and include juice from any region in the state.

The ultimate blend, ‘‘Southeastern Australia,’’ includes all the vineyards in the states of New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania, as well as most of Queensland and South Australia. This blending provides consistency of style, year in and year out, which is a big part of Australia’s international success.

Importance of Exports. Since the early days, Australia’s wine industry has relied on exports. Although Australia is ranked sixth in the world for total wine production—amounting to 159 million nine-liter cases (mc) in 2006—it is ranked higher, at the fourth position, for its export success. In 2007, Australia exported more than 87 mc, worth close to A$3 billion, to over a hundred nations around the world.

Australia’s original export market is still number one: the United Kingdom. However, the United States is a close second (23.5 mc), now representing about 26 percent of all exports in volume and over 30 percent in value. As recently as 2005, when Australia had an oversupply of fruit, Australia shipped a lot ofbulk wine to the United States. With the oversupply quickly turning into undersupply because of severe drought conditions, bulk shipments have since fallen signifi- cantly. Bulk red wine shipments are down 63 percent and whites decreased by 52 percent. With 2008 expected to be the fifth largest on record, bulk wine volumes should increase again.

In addition to the U.S. and theBritish market, Australia’s principal export desti- nations areCanada, Germany, New Zealand, the Dutch market, and Denmark.

The Marketing Mix: Cooperation and Collaboration. With an eye to expanding the opportunities for Australian exports, a broad industry-funded promotional office, the Australian Wine Bureau (AWB), opened in London in the 1980s. An office in the United States (originally called the Australian Wine Importers Associ- ation) followed in 1989. In 2006, an industry review changed the name of the AWBs worldwide to Wine Australia and modernized the logo.

The Australian wine industry’s understanding of the benefits of collaboration has helped its growth in immeasurable ways. Heads of wine corporations and boutique winemakers come together regularly at conferences and colloquiums. Industry bodies, such as the Winemakers Federation of Australia and the Austral- ian Wine and Brandy Corporation, listen to them, too. Since 1996, three major ini- tiatives have been published by the industry: Strategy 2025 (1996) outlined sales goals, which were surpassed by 2005. The Marketing Decade (2000) defined the concept of market development and the importance ofbranding. Directions to 2025, released in May 2007, identifies challenges and strategies for the industry, divides the category into brand ‘‘personalities,’’ and outlines the possibilities for sustainable growth.

In Country. The development of ‘‘cask wine,’’ or bag-in-box alternative pack- aging, in the mid-1960s helped Australia become a wine-drinking nation. Though consumption numbers are not near Europe’s highs, Australians do consume an average of 26 liters per adult, making it the highest major country outside of Europe with the exception ofArgentina. And Australia’s wine consumption is still growing.

As noted, exports have long been a part of the Australian wine industry, but in the past several years, imports have become more important as well. In 2007, imports totaled almost 5 mc. Although half of that amount is from neighboring

New Zealand, the other imports have more than doubled since 2001, with the largest volumes coming from Italy, France,Chile, and Spain.

Future Focus. Australia has added interest and intrigue to the story of wine in many ways:flying winemakers and unique characters; research, experimentation, and innovation; the vine pull scheme and the show system; the Len Evans tutorial; thesustainability issue; the new and innovative educational program Australia: World Class; and so much more. All of these have helped to shape Australia’s current wine industry and point to much more intrigue and activity in the future.

Jan Stuebing Smyth

Further Reading

Australian Wine Research Institute. www.awri.com.au.

Clarke, Oz. Oz Clarke’s Australian Wine Companion. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2005. Grapegrower and Winemaker. www.grapeandwine.com.au.

Halliday, James. Wine Atlas of Australia. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006. Mattinson, Campbell. Why the French Hate Us: The Real Story of Australian Wine. South

Yarra, Victoria, Australia: Hardie Grant, 2007.

WBM: Australia’s Wine Business Magazine. www.awbm.com.au. Wine Australia. www.wineaustralia.com.

AUSTRIA

Wine has been part of Austria’s culture since Roman and maybe even Celtic times. Austrian viticulture was brought to excellence by the manymonasteries along the Danube River and south of Vienna, but the tragic events of the first half of the twentieth century with the fall of the Habsburg Empire and the two world wars destroyed many economic hopes, including those of many of the country’s wine producers. Then in 1985, just as the industry was recovering, a wine adulter- ation scandal shattered the rebuilding of the image. Austrian wines disappeared for years from many export markets.

Since then, a little miracle has happened. A strict new wine law supported dra- matic quality improvements, and a new generation of quality-oriented wine- makers was able to sell wine at prices that paid back their efforts. Austria has always had excellentterroirs, especially for great white and sweet wines. But with just 125,000 acres under vine, less than 1 percent of theglobal wine production, and more than 75 percent local consumption, Austria has not been perceived as a leading wine producer. Nevertheless, in the last 20 years, Austria has achieved international acclaim for quality.

Austrian wine law allows 22 white and 13 red grape varieties forquality wine. The flagship grape is the white Gru¨ner Veltliner, which represents two-thirds of total production. It is mainly grown in the Niedero¨sterreich (Lower Austria) qual- ity wine area. Austria’s leading red grape varieties are the indigenous Zweigelt (12.5 percent of Austria’s total acreage) and Blaufra¨nkisch (6.5 percent). Burgen- land, the second biggest wine region, is prime red grape territory, as well as one of the world’s finest sources for sweetdessert wines from grapes affected by

botrytis. International varieties such asSauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, and especiallyRiesling are also grown in Austria. Sauvignon Blanc is a focus in the southernmost quality wine area, Steiermark (Styria). The fourth wine area is Vienna, the federal capital, which has more than 1,700 acres under vine.

The Austrian Pra¨dikat grading system, based on the sugar concentration in the grape, ranges from slightly sweet Spa¨tlese and Auslese to the richly sweet Beere- nauslese, Ausbruch, and Trockenbeerenauslese. Eiswein (made from naturally frozen grapes) and Strohwein or Schilfwein (made from sun-dried grapes) com- plete the spectrum.

Recently Austria has developed a new appellation system, the Districtus Austriae Controllatus (DAC). Currently there are four delimited DACs: Weinvier- tel (for Gru¨ner Veltliner), Traisental and Kremstal (Gru¨ner Veltliner and Riesling), and Mittelburgenland (Blaufra¨nkisch).

In an average year, Austria produces around 2.2–2.5 million hectoliters of wine (about 25 million cases [mc]), 70 percent of it white and 30 percent red. More than three-quarters is sold domestically: 58 percent in restaurants, 38 percent at retail (supermarkets, wine shops, and direct sales), and 4 percent to tourists. It exports the equivalent of 5.5–9.0 mc per year, depending largely on harvests, with a total export value ofa75–a120 million. The most important export market has always beenGermany (65 percent by volume and 56 percent by value in 2006). Next are Switzerland (3 percent/13 percent) and theUnited States (2 per- cent/10 percent), both with modest quantities but high-value imports. The Czech Republic andItaly are traditional bulk wine buyers.

Austria produces only a fifth as much wine asAustralia, but has three times more bottling estates (6,000). The average estate in Austria covers less than seven acres, although the trend goes toward bigger, more profitable units. Family ownership is the driving force, and the young generation is dynamic, motivated, and innovative. Austrian estates work with great respect for nature.Organic wine production has recently doubled to 8 percent of total production. With its low yields, controlled use of treatments, and small family estates where most of the crop is handpicked, Austria is one of the most environmentally friendly wine economies in the world.

The Austrian Wine Marketing Board (AWMB), a nonprofit organization funded by the wine industry,promotes Austrian wine at home and abroad. Its goal is to keep local consumption as high as it is, while shifting more and more exported wine from bulk business to reasonable sales of bottled quality wines. The official aim of the AWMB was to double 2000’s bottled wine sales within 10 years—a goal reached in just 5 years. It is now looking to increase exports to a100– a150 million over the next 5 years.

Willi Klinger

Further Reading

Austrian Wine Marketing Board. www.winesfromaustria.com.

Blom, Phillip. The Wines of Austria. Rev. ed. London: Mitchell Beazley, 2006.

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