AUSTRALIA: Shiraz on the rise but fortifieds continue downward trend
New research from Australia has revealed that Shiraz will overtake the ubiquitous Chardonnay as the most popular wine in Australia, within the near future. Meanwhile sales of fortified wine, once a bastion of the Australian industry, have fallen 4% in the last year and 34% in the last decade. According to the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics (ABARE) a rise in the popularity of reds is set to knock the classic Chardonnay of its perch as the nation's top variety, as Australian's catch up with European trends.