Australia has been blessed with some of the top wine making climates in the world and this is reflected in their well respected wine products. However, Fiji and New Zealand have also come onto the scene in recent years and has increased their market share largely as a result of their flexible wine producing policies.

There was recent debate about the moral ramifications about being able to produce ros© by blending white and red together. Ros© is normally made by separating the juice from the red grape skins before too much of the red colour can be absorbed into the liquid. However, spurred on by the squeeze of the global recession on wine produces, a number of countries passed a law saying that producers could now sell blended wine (white will a dash of red) under the label of ros©.

Countries such as France, widely considered the finest wine producing country in the world, were not best pleased with this mutilation of ros© wine and did not agree for it to be sold in their country, or even be given as wine gifts. However, those countries that have not set such strict rules for themselves, such as those in Australasia and Eastern Europe have profited from their liberalism. A spokesman from the New Zealand alcohol authority defended his countrys move by stating that people are free to consume whichever wine they wish. All ros© wine produced using the blending method is clearly marked as such, and has a lower retail price than the classic wine. The spokesman argued that if people can make milk chocolate in a thousand different ways, why can the same not be done for ros©?

The blending together of some of the most popular wine varieties is another practice that is really taking off in Australasian countries. In Fiji for example you can buy Sauvignon Blanc mixed with Chardonnay and Merlot blended with Cabernet Sauvignon. With the same unconcerned attitude as the New Zealand authorities, Fiji claim that wine is just as suitable for blending as Whisky. They state that companies all over the world, and in particular Scotland, produce some very fine blended whiskies that not only often taste superior to single malts, but that are also able to sell at more modest prices. Next they will be telling us which tableware we must use when consuming the wine, stated one official.

The new blended wine has proved to be a real hit internally with the Fijian population, with producers selling around 120,000 bottles in 2008. Many might consider this to be a small about, but relative to the population of Fiji, which is around 850,000, this rate of sale is incredibly high. The blended wine is already drunk in many of the surrounding countries, but there are hopes to extend the export to every country and the Fiji producers are confident it will catch on.