Selling the region

Australians are obsessed by wine varieties. Our labels elevate grape varieties to hero worship, while often the region mostly shrinks to lesser importance and the style of wine to the obscurity of the back sticker, if at all. Even the most recognised blends emphasise fruit components more than region or producer. This isn’t the case in traditional European wines, which tend to emphasis the maker before the actual grapes crammed inside the bottle, writes News Limited national wine writer Tony Love.