The Canberra region, near Australia's national capital, has a recognised cool-climate wine industry. A generous range of grape varieties goes into the making of Australian wine. In 1997 Chardonnay was the most-produced variety, followed by Shiraz. Other premium white varieties apart from Chardonnay included Semillon, Rhine Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. Main red wine varieties other than Shiraz were Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Grenache and Pinot Noir.
Wine is very much a part of Australian life, closely associated with both business and leisure.
Wine consumption is often linked to the country's outdoor-oriented lifestyle as well as to the cosmopolitan urban way of life of the bulk of the Australian population. Wine festivals are a feature of cultural life in the major wine producing regions of Australia and draw many Australian holidaymakers and international visitors each year. The first vines arrived aboard one of the ships that brought the first European settlers to Australia in 1788. Initially wines were produced in the rich coastal region around the fledgling city of Sydney. John Macarthur established the earliest commercial vineyard.