Australia is a country of expansive proportions. It is the world’s smallest continent and the sixth-largest country in the world; thus enabling Australia to enjoy such variety of biogeographic qualities. The geography of Australia is very diverse. There are snow capped mountains, deserts, tropical forest and grasslands
Australia has a total land area of about 7,686,850 square kilometers, comparatively smaller than the contiguous 48 states of the United States and around 31.5 times larger than the United Kingdom. The country is nestled between the Indian and Pacific oceans.
Australia is considered to the world’s flattest continent. It also features the oldest and most fertile soils. A large part of the Australian terrain comprises of deserts and semi-arid lands popularly coined as outback. The southeast and southwest corners of the continent possess a fairly temperate climate.
There are strict laws and provisions in the labeling of the geographic origins of the grapes cultivated and utilized in various wines in the country. Majority of the Australian wine producing companies are located on the south-eastern region. South-Eastern Australia represents 98% of the Australian vineyard areas. The key wine growing regions of South Australia include Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills, Riverland, McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek, Clare Valley, Coonawarra, and Padthaway.
Other magnificent wine regions are that of New South Wales which include Hunter Valley, Mudgee, Riverina. In the Victoria wine regions we have Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, Geelong, Macedon Ranges, Goulburn Valley, Bendigo, and Rutherglen.
Tasmania is also been increasingly recognized in its wine making prowess. Tasmania features cool climate that is very conducive for the production of noteworthy sparkling wines of excellent structure.
Explore Australian Geography:
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