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 Regional Overview
Visiting Australia? Discover our main wine states and regions
Australian wine regions
Australia is a large country - Margaret River is further from the Hunter Valley than Jerez in Spain is from Tokaji in Hungary - so, despite the distinctive national approach to wine, Australian wines are not all the same. The wines of Margaret River and of the Hunter Valley differ as much as sherry and tokay do. The three most important wine-producing states are South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. As well as bulk production, they each have specific premium wine regions.
Read more about the wine regions of Australia here.
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OXFORD COMPANION TO WINE |
Home : Oxford Companion : Search Results |
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The carbon-containing matter left in the soil from the rotting of plant, animal, and microbial residues.
Normally most organic matter is in the top 20 cm/8 in of the soil, with some deeper as a result of deeply penetrating roots and distribution by earthworms and other burrowing animals. On undisturbed soils much of the store of readily available plant nutrients is associated with the surface layer and its organic matter, having been extracted from the subsoil over the millennia and deposited at the surface in plant residues and those of grazing animals. This applies especially to the less soluble nutrients such as phosphorus and most of the trace elements, which do not appreciably leach down the profile except in very sandy soils. Fresh organic matter reflects the composition of the plant and animal materials from which it was formed but, as decomposition proceeds, the more soluble elements are progressively leached away, unless quickly taken up again by plant roots. The end point of decomposition is a largely inert organic material called humus. Although fairly low in nitrogen, this is still very important in helping to give the soil a desirable crumb structure and friability (see soil structure). It also provides a framework for the absorption and further storage of both water and free nutrients, in states of varying bondage and accessibility to plant roots. The total result in undisturbed soils is a constant recycling of nutrients and their steady availability to plants. Importantly, it is at rates which broadly match the favourability of conditions for plant growth, and therefore of plant nutrient requirements. Sound viticulture aims, if necessary, first to build up soil organic matter content and that of associated mineral (see minerals) nutrients, and then to maintain them at a level just high enough to ensure soil health and a steady supply of nutrients appropriate to the needs of the vines. On initially infertile soils this may necessitate a substantial use of fertilizers or, in the case of organic viticulture, of imported plant materials or animal wastes to make good any mineral element deficiencies. Only then is it possible to ensure vigorous growth of the green manure and cover crops needed for the buildup or permanent maintenance of organic matter. At all stages the increase or maintenance of soil organic matter demands that cultivation, if any, be kept to an absolute minimum. Viticulture for high-quality wine-making nevertheless demands that soil organic matter content and fertility only be high enough to ensure a suitable balance between fruiting and moderate vegetative growth (see vine balance). Higher levels tend to be associated with excessive vegetative vigour and poor canopy microclimates. Seguin discusses organic matter levels in relation to the top crus of Bordeaux. Bibliography - Seguin, G., ` ``Terroirs'' and pedology of wine growing', Experientia, 42 (1986), 861-72.
References balance canopy microclimate cover crop cru fertilizers minerals nitrogen organic viticulture phosphorus root soil soil structure subsoil
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© Jancis Robinson & Oxford University Press 1999 All rights reserved
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