AUSTRALIA’S SUNSHINE STATE JUICING OUT GRAPES

It looks like Queensland, the self-proclaimed “Smart State” of Australia, is making headway with their wine-making. According to Emma Chalmers of The Courier-Mail, “The state's grape crush has increased from less than 500 tonnes in 1998 to more than 5000 tonnes last year and there are more than 160 wine producers and merchants spread across Queensland's 10 wine regions” despite the intense heat of that area. However, wine-producers must take advantage of other arenas to effectively promote their wine. "For Queensland, tourism will always be really closely linked with wine because of the small number of hectares we have compared with our southern states," Queensland's Wine Industry Development Minister Margaret Keech says. "So we can never compete at a volume level like that so it will always be a wine/tourism experience." Well, if it's an import from Australia and looks like Yellow Tail, I'm sure it will do very well in the United States where they're crazy about Aussie wines.