From deep, supple and mouth-filling Shiraz to golden botrytised Riesling, from delicious gooseberry and grass-driven Sauvignon Blanc to the generosity of sunkissed Chardonnay, the ancient continent of Australia produces wines that equal the best in the world. The enormous geographic variations in Australian landscapes and soils ensure that every variety of wine grape flourishes in its optimum growing environment somewhere in the continent, whether it be the cool climate of Tasmania for Pinot Noir, or the Mediterranean summers of Margaret River in Western Australia for Cabernet Sauvignon. James Halliday, one of Australia's foremost wine writers and for many years a vineyard owner and vigneron in the Yarra Valley,Victoria, has written about every wine region in Australia - over seventy of them - in this definitive Atlas. Each region has a superb map, specially created using innovative digital cartography - more accurate than any so far published - showing both geographic features and the position of many wineries. Drawing on his inimitable way with words, Halliday describes the types of grapes grown in each region,the soil,the climate and the wine-growing history of the area,as well as giving an introduction to the most famous and respected wineries,and naming their signature wines. The Atlas is lavishly illustrated,the photographs bringing to life the individual regions, the vineyards themselves, and the dedicated people who make the wine. For wine lovers who want to know more about the wine-growing regions of Australia,and the background to the wines they enjoy, James Halliday's Wine Atlas of Australia is an indispensable volume.