We cannot hope that our Australian wines will take a high place amongst those of the world as long as they are not in general use by our own people.  There can be no keener reproach than to have it said:  “Why, even the Australians themselves do not drink their own wines.”  And this is regrettedly the fact.  It is necessary, therefore, that first of all our people should take a very deep interest in all the details connected with vine-growing and wine-making, and thus give some encouragement to those who are doing their best to establish what will ultimately become Australia’s brightest glory.  And it will be a good thing for this land when a knowledge of every point in the growing of the grape, and every step in the making of the wine, becomes part and parcel of our daily life.  The very hoardings of our streets are covered with advertisements of countless brands of whisky, and of numberless varieties of ale.  But those setting forth the virtues of our wines are conspicuous by their absence.  It would seem that Australia, where our own wine should be the national beverage, is almost the last country in which to find it.

It may be asked, what are the reasons which lead to this disregard of the virtues possessed by our own wines?  The reply to this question is not an easy matter, but I shall endeavour to answer it to the best of my ability.  The probability is, if a dozen people were asked, at random, why Australian wine is so little used in Australia, that at least that number of different explanations would be forthcoming.  The truth, however, is more likely to be found in a combination of reasons, rather than from any one single cause.  These are obviously worth considering, from the very fact that the knowing of what they consist is of the first importance in rectifying them.

I shall begin, then, by saving that the label on the bottle has much to answer for, in that it is misleading.  It does not give any idea of what is to be found inside.  Thus the word Riesling, on one bottle, may be attached to a wine grown on the Hunter, in New South Wales, and on another to a wine from the Yarra, in Victoria.  It is true that the wine from these two places may be grown from the same “cepage.”  But while the river Yarra wine will contain perhaps 11 per cent. of alcohol, that from the Hunter River will have quite 20 per cent.—­so much does an increase in the warmth of the climate increase the alcoholic strength of the wine.

And while we are on the subject of labels, I must certainly take exception to the unattractive character of those employed on the bottles of our Australian wines.  There is no reason whatever why a little consideration should not be paid to the artistic sense in this respect.  Our wine merchants, it would appear, fail to understand the selling power which belongs to the “get-up” of the label on a wine bottle.  I feel sure this attractiveness has a great deal to do with the success of many products, notably in the case of the American preserved fruits.  Some of these are labelled in a manner which is creditable in the highest degree—­and what is more, from a practical point, it is no unimportant factor in their huge sale.