By DITA DE BONI
A group of winemakers has crossed the ditch to stage a three-city promotion based on South Australia's burgeoning wine tourism trade.
This week, 13 wineries from the Barossa area will invite oenophilists to sample their wares in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. It is the first coordinated regional promotion
by Australians in this country.
Barossa, in South Australia, is responsible for 20 per cent of Australia's wine production and has offered wine tourism for around 50 years.
The area - planted in vineyards 150 years ago by Lutheran immigrants - is home to several of Australia's largest producers, including industry giants Penfolds and Orlando.
The promotional tour not only aims to introduce New Zealanders to attractions and wineries in the area, but also to styles of wine and grape varieties unfamiliar on this side of the Tasman, such as former "workhorse" grape varieties Grenache and Mourvedre.
The Barossa wine industry has developed differently from those in New Zealand and Europe. While it has around 2000 producers, few wineries offer their own brands. The region's grape growers have traditionally sold their harvests to Australia's large wine producers.
Tour coordinator Peter Fuller says that Australia can provide a valuable blueprint for New Zealand, a few months out from this country's first wine tourism conference.
Wine tourism in Australia is valued at $A400 million, with an estimated potential value of $A1.1 billion.
New Zealand is also an important export market for Australian wine and provides a steady stream of tourists to its wine-growing areas.
New Zealanders consume about 20.1 million litres of Australian wine each year.
The South Australian Tourism Commission said 28,400 New Zealanders visited the state in 1998, with 27 per cent estimated to have taken part in wine tourism activities in the region.
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