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Part m
SECTION IV
BRITISH EMPIRE WINES
AUSTRALIA
New South Wales is the cradle of the Australian wine-
producing industry, but was superseded by Victoria, who
in turn has been outpaced by South Australia, which is
responsible for nearly three-quariers of the Australian wine
production. In both Queensland and Western Australia
a small amount of wine is also made, but not on a suffi
ciently large scale to warrant export. The main types of
wine and their centres of production are as follows:—
(a) The Hunter River district (New South Wales), the
great Western and Lilydale districts (Victoria) produce
chiefly light beverage wines,suitable for home consumption.
(b) The irrigation areas all along the borders of New
South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, where the greatest
quantities of wines are produced, mostly distilled into
brandy for fortifying"sweet"wines.
(c) The Rutherglen and Corowa district, partly in
N.S.W. and partly in Victoria, which produces some of the
best"sweet"wines.
(d) The Watervale (Springvale) and other districts of
South Australia, which produce the largest quantities of
both sweet and dry wines suitable for export.
(e) The Queensland and Perth vineyards, which produce
a limited quantity of both light and fortified wines.
The acreage of the Australian vineyards was 70,000
acres in 1919, with an average yield of 8^ million gallons
of wine. The irrigation and other areas were then extended
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