How do they do IT? Vintage IT

Present at our most catalytic events, revered by many of the world's religious orders, wine has buttered the tongues of warlords and dictators. Roman Caesars have gorged on it, medieval poets have sung about it and chemists have cured ailments with what was once an elixir, now a treasured beverage. And IT is changing the future flavour.

Australia's place in the history of winemaking -- or vinification -- is an epilogue to an 8000-year chronology which began in ancient Iran, was transformed at the hands of the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, and spread through trade and the spoils of war. Australia is considered 'new world' in terms of wine manufacture, and our vinification techniques are on the bleeding-edge of technological advancement. The veins of many of our master wine makers run with the blood of experienced European vintners, but their techniques are worlds apart.

Since the first local wines were produced in 1820 after 40 years of failed imported South African crops, Australia has risen to become the world's fourth-largest exporter, worth $2.3 billion last year. We ship Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling to name a few -- some 764 million litres in 2009. Our sacred drop recently bumped 'old world'-producing nations from the top of wine lists in the UK and across Europe. And, like ice to Inuits, we even sell our wine to France, Italy and Spain. It's that good, so says our humble industry.

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Present at our most catalytic events, revered by many of the world's religious orders, wine has buttered the tongues of warlords and dictators. Roman Caesars have gorged on it, medieval poets have sung about it and chemists have cured ailments with what was once an elixir, now a treasured beverage. And IT is changing the future flavour.

Australia's place in the history of winemaking -- or vinification -- is an epilogue to an 8000-year chronology which began in ancient Iran, was transformed at the hands of the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, and spread through trade and the spoils of war. Australia is considered 'new world' in terms of wine manufacture, and our vinification techniques are on the bleeding-edge of technological advancement. The veins of many of our master wine makers run with the blood of experienced European vintners, but their techniques are worlds apart.

Since the first local wines were produced in 1820 after 40 years of failed imported South African crops, Australia has risen to become the world's fourth-largest exporter, worth $2.3 billion last year. We ship Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling to name a few -- some 764 million litres in 2009. Our sacred drop recently bumped 'old world'-producing nations from the top of wine lists in the UK and across Europe. And, like ice to Inuits, we even sell our wine to France, Italy and Spain. It's that good, so says our humble industry.

Wine exports tipped $2.3 billion last year, a rise of 9 per cent, following another wine glut in 2005 triggered calls for growers to pull out their vines. Bulk wines are on the up to the tune of an extra 119 million litres, but they are far from overtaking bottled wine exports, and still less than the 40 per cent market share of bottled reds. Our Shiraz is in highest demand by international palettes, followed by Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

From the vine

It's the harvest season for winemakers in the Southern Hemisphere. Some smaller Australian vineyards will pick the grapes by hand, which has more to do with particular vintage requirements than in homage to old world techniques. The larger winemakers will employ software and machine technology to identify the best and ripest rachis (the stem which contains the grapes), and will use integrated mapping to locate the patchwork of varietals hidden across the vineyards. Technology is now so integral to wine production that without it, many of our favourite drops from remote regions would disappear.

Take the Wynns vineyard, nestled in the cool clime of Coonawarra, on South Australia's Limestone Coast. The landscape looks deceptively flat to the eye, and until about 10 years ago it was assumed to be as such. Enter precision viticulture: Parent company Foster's can now identify subtleties in environmental conditions across all its vineyards that can make the difference between a $100 bottle of red, and a $20 offering.

An $80 drop won't come from mixing them, however, so Foster's teamed-up with the CSIRO to develop a military-grade system for each of its vineyards covering a total of 9000 hectares, to identify variances in light, moisture and soil type to determine the best location for a given varietal. An aerial monitoring system records the slightest variances in the light spectrum over the vineyard area, which together with advanced automated telemetric watering systems, can produce the optimal growth for a given wine variety.