UK
critics have been giving Australian wine a hard time recently – bland,
boring brands that drag down not only the reputation of Australia but
also that of all wine. But is it Aussie producers or UK buyers who are
to blame?

Leigh Gilligan, a partner in Boars Rock winery, McLaren Vale, says:

I’ve just returned from The London Wine and Spirits Trade
Fair and I am getting incredibly depressed with a number of importers
and distributors in the UK who are now talking about “liquid” rather
than wine.

For UK wine writers to go on about the poor quality
of Australian wine, well it’s what the supermarket groups and importers
are demanding. It’s all about driving the price down – quality is very
much a secondary consideration.

Therefore those wines (low
quality) are appearing in UK supermarkets because the “gatekeepers”
(supermarket and group buyers) who are supposed to be the arbitrators
of all things great and good are buying them.

Read more on the wine industry in The Key Report.