Judith Juntilla isn't a wine connoisseur or even a regular wine drinker. But in her recent trip to Australia, she found herself joining a wine tour and purchasing several bottles to bring home to Manila.

"I saw several wines you normally don't see in Manila," she says, citing local labels such as Lalla Gully, which makes a light and fruity pinot grigio (a varietal more commonly associated with Italy), and Pirie, a super-premium sparkling wine from Pipers Brook made from a blend of pinot noir and chardonnay.

Her favorite, however, is Ninth Island, which is produced in Tasmania. "I prefer white wines and I found the sauvignon blanc and the frontignac to be very good. I ended up taking some home with me," says Juntilla, who purchased the whites after a meal at David Alps at Strathlynn's in Tasmania's Tamar Valley wine region.

With the increasing popularity of Australian wines, touring wineries has become an integral part of the vacation experience down under. The Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) estimates that 30 percent of all inbound visitors over the age of 15 visit
wineries while in Australia - or around 500,000 international tourists a year. Wine tours are especially popular among visitors from North America, U.K., New Zealand and Japan.

"The incredible growth in wine enthusiasts to Australia is hardly surprising considering Australia ranks as the world's seventh-largest wine producer, and Australian wines are among the best in the world - a judgment that is consistently reinforced at international wine shows," notes ATC Managing Director Ken Boundy.

"Australia's reputation for producing world-class wine has added a greater depth to Australia's image and made wine touring one of our top tourism assets overseas."

Booming Exports

Australian wine exports have doubled in the past four years. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in the 12 months to May, export sales exceeded A$2 billion - or nearly 1.4 million bottles of wine leaving Australia every day. This makes Australia the world's fourth-largest wine exporter after France, Italy and Spain, and the single largest exporter of wine outside the European Union.

Despite such robust demand, many wineries have to rely on tourists like Juntilla for their existence. Australia's wine industry is dominated by a just a handful of large conglomerates such as Southcorp Holding Ltd and the Beringer Blass unit of Foster's Group Ltd, which together account for around 80 percent of the industry.

However, there are more than 1,300 small wineries around the country that rely heavily on cellar door sales and direct mail as their main source of distribution and income. For these producers, tourism has become an increasingly important revenue source.

Wine distributor Rob Hope-Murray of www.winebuyers.net explains that with more people starting small wineries - more than double the number in 1990 - cellar doors, which are little shops with tasting areas attached to a winery, are experiencing a boom, opening at a rate of one every 72 hours. "They can't get into the real shops because these shops are already very full," he explains.

Cellar doors are mostly patronized by tourists, who are eager to discover new labels that couldn't find their way into their shores.

But visiting wineries isn't just a tourist thing. Taking weekend drives to indulge in the food and wine in the wine country has become a popular Australian pastime, says Melbourne-based Murray, who just recently visited the new winery Pettavel, whose on-site restaurant is already booked month's in advance.

Part of the Culture

Last year, roughly 3.5 million Australians took wine tours, not counting those on short day trips.
This wasn't always the case. Up until the 1970s, wine tours appealed only to the die-hard connoisseurs, but as wine drinking became part of the Australian lifestyle, interest in winemaking also grew both among locals and overseas tourists.

"Visitors to Australia tend to visit a winery as part of their itinerary," Murray says. "When they come here, they see that wine is very much a part of the culture in Australia."

Australia's tourism industry is hoping to develop this wine culture a bit further. Last October, the National Wine Center of Australia opened in Adelaide, South Australia, with a tasting gallery, restaurant, retail outlet, education rooms, and functional hall. Apart from promoting Australian wines, the A$25-million center is also targeting 170,000 international and domestic visitors a year. It offers an interactive presentation on the history, traditions, regions, and personalities who have contributed to the growth of the Australian wine industry.

The tourism industry is also pushing inbound tour operators (ITOs) to work more closely with the wine industry to further develop wine tourism and help enhance regional economies in the country.

"ITOs have a significant influence over how national tourism products and suppliers are promoted overseas, and the wine tourism sector is no exception," says Australian Tourism Export Council Managing Director Peter Shelley. "I would encourage ITOs and the wine industry to reap the many opportunities available in developing this market and which will further boost Australia's profile as a wine tourism destination."

With more wine-growing areas being developed in addition to the 44 or so planted sites, prospects are indeed ripe for a bountiful tourism harvest. Juntilla laments that there just isn't enough time to see everything.

"You will definitely need more time," she advises. "You need to have time to savor it."

Spoken like a true connoisseur.