First Vintage

Wine in Colonial New South Wales

Exploring the forgotten history of the early Australian wine industry, this book reveals the challenges of choosing vine stock, the battles to protect against pests and diseases, and the innovation of new technologies that assisted small-scale growers, many of whom worked in wine regions that have since vanished from the landscape and memory for much of the 20th century. Few people know that vine cuttings were brought to Australia on the First Fleet and planted in Governor Arthur Phillip’s garden at Circular Quay. Or that botanist and champion of colonial development Joseph Banks encouraged plans to create a wine industry from the earliest years of the colony. In addition, before the assisted migration of German vinedressers in the 1830s, any convict or free settler with a hint of vine-growing or wine-making expertise was quickly drafted to the cause. This colorful history is the first to trace wine growing, making, and drinking in colonial New South Wales.