Australia's wine industry has boomed in the past ten years. Employers have had to triple their staff numbers to cope with the demand for Aussie wine. Considering the lower average national population of Australia, compared to say the United States or even South Africa, 30,000 (2001) workers is pretty high.

One of the main reasons for the demand on this skillful industry is that it has won an international reputation for quality and value. Australian wines have won many highly sought after international awards and labels and many innovative Australian winemakers are sought internationally for their wine making expertise.

Wine regions throughout Australia have continually had high ratings especially over the past four years. Most of these regions and especially the East and South coasts (New South Wales and Victoria) are averaging 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. Second to the brilliant winemakers, and a close second, is the great climates / weather that certain regions have for cultivating vines.

Wine is very much a part of the Australian way of life, closely associated with both business and leisure. Wine consumption is often linked to the country's outdoor-oriented lifestyle as well as to the cosmopolitan urban way of life of the bulk of the Australian population.

Australia exports more wine than that that is sold domestically. Out of a total of approximately 919 million litres bottled, 516.5 million litres is exported. The largest export market has been the United Kingdom and second has been the United States.

Researchers from the University College London have come up with a few very interesting facts. They found that drinking alcohol (including wine), even in small amounts, might be associated with higher cognitive ability, especially for women. You would be silly not to have a drop every night! I think Aussie are reasonably bright, it must be all the great wine they produce.

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Chris Burd

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