The future of the Australian wine industry will be shaped by a group of innovative grapegrowers and winemakers who are busily experimenting with new varieties in new regions.

The phenomenal success of the industry in producing quality wine at competitive prices does not need recounting here. But this success has led some critics to brand Australian wine as boring. Nothing could be further from the truth.

A pioneering spirit has been sweeping the industry and this has resulted in a much wider range of winegrape varieties being used.

There are over a hundred winegrape varieties grown in Australia. In a recent book Varietal Wines, leading Australian wine writer James Halliday uses a classification of varieties into classic, second tier and Lesser varietals for both red and white. He identifies four classic whites (chardonnay, semillon, riesling and sauvignon blanc) and five classic reds (cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, merlot, shiraz and grenache).

The Australian wine industry is heavily dependent on these classic varieties. They are all French by the way; although there is merit in the argument that grenache can be regarded as a Spanish variety.

A supporting role is played by a cast thirteen white varieties and seventeen red varieties, second tier varietals in Halliday