New South Wales

A man called James Busby, who had studied winemaking briefly in France and Spain, arrived in Australia around 1830. He bought with him cuttings from vines gathered from Europe, including some from the Hill of Hermitage in the Northern Rhone. These are likely to be the mother vines of Australia's best Shiraz. He planted the first vineyard in the Hunter Valley 100km north of Sydney (previous attempts had been made to grow vines in Sydney Cove but they were attacked by 'black spot'). The Hunter is still the real jewel in the crown of winemaking in New South Wales.