Australia has produced some very popular wines over the years and has a climate conducive to producing bottles considered some of the best in the world. Other surrounding countries such as New Zealand and Fiji are now getting in on the act however and are growing their stakes in the market by experimenting with innovative wine production.

In the news recently was the high-profile contentious issue of wine producers being able to mix together red and white wine, and call the end product ros©. The traditional method of producing ros© wine involved taking the red grape skins out of the juice mixture early on in the process so that only a little of the colour ends up in the final product. However, this method has been somewhat ‘adapted’ by some producers who are feeling the pinch in the recession and many are simply adding a small amount of red wine to white and calling it ros©.

Countries such as France, widely considered the finest wine producing country in the world, were not best pleased with this mutilation of ros© wine and did not agree for it to be sold in their country, or even be given as wine gifts. However, those countries that have not set such strict rules for themselves, such as those in Australasia and Eastern Europe have profited from their liberalism. A spokesman from the New Zealand alcohol authority defended his countrys move by stating that people are free to consume whichever wine they wish. They never market their blended ros© as wine made in the traditional way and the difference in pricing makes it quite obvious this is a different product entirely. The spokesman argued that if people can make milk chocolate in a thousand different ways, why can the same not be done for ros©?

A number of the countries in Australasia have even started fully blending standard wine varieties together to get new drinks.In Fiji for example you can buy Chenin Blanc mixed with Pinot Grigio and Tempranillo blended with Cabernet Franc. Mirroring the laid back approach of New Zealand, the Fijian wine makers suggest that wine is able to be blended just as easily and with the same success rate as whisky. They state that companies all over the world, and in particular Scotland, produce some very fine blended whiskies that not only often taste superior to single malts, but that are also able to sell at more modest prices. Next they will be telling us which tableware we must use when consuming the wine, stated one official.

The new blended wine has proved to be a real hit internally with the Fijian population, with producers selling around 120,000 bottles in 2008. Many might consider this to be a small about, but relative to the population of Fiji, which is around 850,000, this rate of sale is incredibly high. There are plans to start exporting this fully blended wine very soon and given the fact they are able to undercut many single malt wine produces, they are almost certain to do well.