Here in the U.S., there has never been a better time to drink Australian wine. Exports, particularly of premium wines, are at the highest they’ve been in 15 years, meaning there’s increased brand diversity and availability of Aussie wines. And despite a tumultuous couples of years for the industry—a perfect storm that crashed and banged to the tune of a global pandemic, the loss of its largest export market, China, due to trade disputes, and extreme weather events like wildfires and floods—Australian wine shines brighter than ever. It's an interesting backdrop to Australia Day, a national holiday that takes place on January 26th. Held on the same day that Great Britain’s First Fleet landed in Sydney in 1788, the nation’s national holiday sees flag-waving, fireworks displays and other patriotic revelries. It is also, however, considered a day of mourning by Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who call it Invasion Day. They point to the 26th of January as the start of European colonization and the destruction of their culture and people. Recent polls show a steep increase in the number of Aussies who believe the date should be moved. These things and more are in our minds as we consider Australia's exceptional wine scene. It is a country that is simultaneously staggeringly old and refreshingly new. Its soils are the oldest on earth; its indigenous culture stretches back, continuously, longer than any other. Its vines—the most elderly of which dates back to 1843—are some of the oldest still-producing grapevines on the planet. A Brief History of Australian Wine For a population ten times smaller than that of the United States, Australia lays claim to an outsized number of now-indispensable inventions, like the refrigerator (1856), the electronic pacemaker (1926), wi-fi (1992), Google Maps (2003) and, perhaps most life-changing of all, bag-in-box wine. Invented by winemaker Thomas Angove in 1964, the plastic wine bladder-in-a-box (also known as a “cask” or a “goon bag” Down Under) may be inherently Aussie. There’s even a drinking game, Goon of Fortune, created for it, often played on Australia Day. The nation’s history with the fermented grape stretches back far longer. Australia’s Indigenous peoples have been fermenting drinks Down Under for millennia. But wine cultivation dates back to that very first ship in 1788, which brought vine cuttings to Sydney Harbor. By the early to mid-1800s, regions like Hunter Valley in New South Wales; Swan Valley in Western Australia; Yarra Valley, Geelong and Rutherglen in Victoria; and McLaren Vale, Coonawarra and Barossa, Eden and Clare Valleys in South Australia were established. Australia’s early wines were mostly fortified—much of it shipped back to England, but plenty drunk domestically, too—along with sweet “moselle” (Riesling) in the early 20th century. Tastes changed in the mid-20th century to dry table wines, particularly American oak-aged reds from varieties like Cabernet and Shiraz. The pendulum swung towards cool climate wines in the ‘80s when drinkers discovered rich, textural Chardonnay and savory, eucalyptus-flecked Cabernet Sauvignon from Margaret River in Western Australia; bright, lemony, green-edged Sauvignon Blanc from the Adelaide Hills in South Australia; traditional method sparklers from Tasmania; elegant, red-fruited Pinot Noir from Mornington Peninsula in Victoria; and, ever the outlier, inimitable, long-lived Hunter Valley Semillon. It swung back yet again towards the end of the ‘90s to full-figured, spicy, now-mostly-French-oak-aged Shiraz and muscular GSM (Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro) blends from Barossa and McLaren Vale and plump, minty Coonawarra Cabs. Then came organics, biodynamics and the natural wine movement in the early 21st century. This relatively hands-off—if sometimes overtly faulty—winemaking approach had a particularly big impact on the wine industry, which many previously criticized as veering too technical, thereby producing squeaky clean but soulless, overly tricked-up wines. (The influence of Australia’s wine show system—traditionally run by its agricultural societies and a deeply engrained part of Aussie wine culture—on the nation’s styles cannot be overstated.) The Modern Australian Wine Scene Recent years have seen the pendulum, at last, swing towards center. Sure, a sea of cookie cutter commercial wines from large-scale producers still get pumped into the market each year. And natural wine, with all its vagaries, isn’t going anywhere. But many of Australia’s most exciting producers have found that sweet spot in the middle. They’re armed with the experience and knowledge to know when to utilize modern wine science and technology to help them farm with less chemical inputs and make stable, fault-free wine, but they also know when to sit back and let nature take its course. It’s why Aussie wine has never been more exciting; why there can be found wines of extraordinary character, site expression and downright deliciousness across all 65 wine regions in Australia from hundreds of different grape varieties. Whether it be for Australia Day or any other occasion, there is an Aussie wine for every palate. Dive in. From the Shop Find Your Wine a Home Our selection of red wine glasses is the best way to enjoy the wine’s subtle aromas and bright flavors. Shop All Wine Glasses The 12 Best Australian Wines Best Hidden Gem: Lambert 2019 Nebbiolo (Yarra Valley) Best Wine from an Indigenous-Owned Winery: Mt Yengo 2021 Pinot Gris (Adelaide Hills) Best Bordeaux Blend from a Biodynamic Rockstar: Cullen 2019 Wilyabrup Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot (Margaret River) Best Bang for Your Buck: Chambers Rosewood Vineyards NV Muscat (Rutherglen) Best Way to Taste Australian Wine History: Seppeltsfield 1921 Para Shiraz-Grenache (Barossa Valley) Best Aromatic Wine: Stargazer 2019 Tupelo White (Tasmania) Best Australian Riesling: Frankland Estate 2019 Estate Grown Dry Riesling (Frankland River) Best Pet Nat from an Obscure Grape Variety: Delinquente 2021 Tuff Nutt Bianco d'Alessano Sparkling (Riverland) Best Grenache from a Historic Producer: Angove 2019 Warboys Vineyard Grenache (McLaren Vale) Best Game-Changing, Cool Climate Shiraz: Clonakilla 2019 Shiraz-Viognier (Canberra District) Best Bottle to Make You Change Your Mind About Aussie Chardonnay: Bindi 2019 Kostas Rind Chardonnay (Victoria) Best Celebratory Bottle: Clover Hill 2015 Cuvée Exceptionnelle Blanc De Blancs Sparkling (Tasmania) Why You Should Trust Us All products featured here are independently selected by our team, which is comprised of experienced writers and wine tasters and overseen by editorial professionals at Wine Enthusiast headquarters. All ratings and reviews are performed blind in a controlled setting and reflect the parameters of our 100-point scale. Wine Enthusiast does not accept payment to conduct any product review, though we may earn a commission on purchases made through links on this site. Prices were accurate at the time of publication.