Australian Winery Etiquette and More

The natural oils from our fingers, or residue from having eaten finger foods, can leave fingerprints, so it’s best to always hold the stem of the glass. Ladies who wear lipstick can leave marks on the glass. Wetting your lips before drinking can prevent lipstick marks.

Etiquette for Your Wine Glass

Wine glasses need to be held at the base of the stem between your thumb, forefinger and middle finger. Your other fingers will naturally rest between the bowl and base.

Never hold the bowl of the wine glass as you will heat up your wine.

Small sips of wine are recommended.

The natural oils from our fingers, or residue from having eaten finger foods, can leave fingerprints, so it’s best to always hold the stem of the glass.

Ladies who wear lipstick can leave marks on the glass. Wetting your lips before drinking can prevent lipstick marks. If this is difficult, then drinking from the same stained area is advisable.

Serving Wine to Guests

You can tie a napkin around the wine bottle you are serving. This will stop the drips on the table linen or even the guests and to make sure the bottle will not slip through your hands due to condensation.

If you are the host or hostess, you will be serving your guests from their right sides. As the hostess or host, you will ensure that everyone’s glass is filled.

The rule of thumb when pouring, is to pour below half a glass (100-125ml or around 4 liquid ounces) of wine each time. At a restaurant, this should be done by your server, who will make sure that your glasses always have wine in them.

Wine Regions of Australia 

“The first grapevine planting material arrived in Australia with white settlement in 1788.” according to the Department of Primary Industries, Queensland Horticulture Institute. The process of planting, harvesting and drinking of wines has never stopped from that time forward. A report released by Wine Australia, cites that “Australia in 2018 alone produced 1.29 tonnes of wine produced 852 million litres made its way overseas, whilst 496 million litres remained for the Australian consumer. This meant that 33 million glasses of Australian wine enjoyed worldwide everyday.” Amazing facts and figures!

So where are the biggest producers of wine in Australia today?

South Australia: 
South Australia enjoys a warm climate. The region is known for: Chardonnay, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Shiraz

New South Wales: 
Also enjoying a warm climate, New South Wales, is known for: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Shiraz and Viognier.

Victoria: 
Victoria, with three different climate zones is a varied climate. Victoria is known for: Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Chardonnay, Cabernet, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Sangiovese, Pinot Gris, Nebbiolo & Fortified Wines

Smaller Wine Producers in Australia

Western Australia:
Western Australia has a warmer climate. The region is known for: Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Riesling.


Tasmania: 
Known for its cooler climate, it’s also known for: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling.

Winery Etiquette

A day out to a winery can be the most relaxing and relished experience that a friend, partner or work can take you to. It is a time to share, experience, saviour and talkabout. Winerys over time have become the showman, letting you graze on their wines and some have expanded to opening restaurants and featuring only their wines with local produce! Simply chic and an immersive experience.

At the Cellar Door

Here are a few pointers when stepping through the cellar door.


Before arriving understand your alcohol limit. Going to too many winerys will become a blur and your tongue will need a holiday. Perhaps eat first before trying a bevvy of drinks.


Do a good amount of research on the winerys that appeal to you. If you are only a white wine drinker then search for a recommended matching winery. If you are coming with friends then discuss your likes and dislikes and map out the winerys that everyone will be able to enjoy.


Dress appropriately with a little glam. Winery regions are located in cool climates. Recommended are flat shoes or wedges, as the winery grounds tend to be gravel, compacted soil or grass. Bigger and popular cellar doors will have paving stones or concrete. Leave perfumes and aftershaves at home, it will affect your smelling senses come wine tasting. Lathering your lips with lipstick can also affect the senses and leave lipstick marks on the glass that may not easily wash off.


Upon arriving, smile and greet the staff, they will understand straight away that you're ready to taste their products.


If there is a large crowd at the tastings, dont push in to get to the front. Go out and walk about the grounds of the winery, take selfies in the vineyard or even move onto the next winery on your map. Pushing yourself to the front will be noticed, in Australia, you may not be served.


The winery may offer free tastings or you may have to pay a small fee, that fee could be waived if you eat later at their in-house restaurant. When you are offered a tasting, go with the tasting order, (or indicate which wines you only like or really want to test). The tasting order will start with whites, rosé to reds and end with fortified wines. You may be given a sheet to mark the wines you enjoyed or didn't quite like. You can either swallow the wine or there will be a spittoon. Don't hesitate to use the spittoon, it is there for a good reason. You may want to have a tissue in readiness for you after you have spat the excess wine.

Some wineries have bookings for a detailed explanation of their wines, processes, viticulture, history and food matching. I fully recommend this type of booking. You will be attended to in a quiet corner and have access to wines that are not for general tasting. Perhaps as part of their paid booking you will receive a tasting plate of local produce that matches their wines during the wine experience.

Staff are trained to speak positively about the wines they present. Saying you simply hate reds, when they are predominantly a red wine producer, will tell them you didn't do your homework and they could skip serving you in favour of another customer.

Use the see, swirl, smell, sip and savour techniques. Look and take note of how the wine looks, its colour, its thick or thinness. Close your eyes and identify what you are smelling and tasting. Feel the wine in your mouth. Notice how it tastes when you take the first sip and how it tastes when it languishes for 30-60 seconds in your mouth. Does it appeal to you? What foods could you match it with? Think about the area the winery is in... Do you taste the sea in it? Or possibly you taste eucalyptus laden bushlands? Let the creative side of your mind wander.

Be curious, be interested. Staff want to interact with you, they want to tell you the winery's history, their best wines, the types of vines that their wine is made from, the wine process and more. It will put the server at ease and you may be offered a great deal at the end of your stay!

It is also a time to step right outside your comfort zone. Why not try different wines than you're used to? You might be delighted and surprised and come home with a new match to your chicken vindaloo, beef shank or blue vein cheese.

Using the tasting area as a local bar or pub, could be frowned upon. The tasting area is provided for trying the wines, on a short term basis. If you want to stay longer, then use their restaurant, book a private room, or take your glass to the garden or balcony area.

When you are tasting, a good server will automatically change your wine glass once you have finished the white wines before you go onto red wine, fortified or sparkling. If they don't, then ask for a change of wine glasses. Rinsing it out with water, will tend to leave a pool of water in your glass, diluting the wine your tasting.

The last place you need to be seen drunk, is at a winery. The winery has a code of conduct that allows them to refuse to serve you and even to escort you off their premises, as they see fit.

Keep in mind that the wine you enjoy is a personal choice. Not everyone likes eating escargot! The wine you like? No one else can fault your choice. Going to a winery is an experience. It is a way to escape to the country with friends, bond, talk, laugh and take lots of photos.

For many years, Etiquipedia contributor, Elizabeth Soos, has had a keen interest in cultural customs. With her European background and extensive travel, Soos developed an interest in the many forms of respect and cultural expectations in the countries she has visited. With her 20 years’ experience in customer service within private international companies based in Australia, and her lifetime interest in manners and research, she decided to branch out into the field of etiquette and deportment. Through her self-directed studies and by completing the Train-The-Trainer’s course offered by Emma Dupont’s School of Etiquette in London and by Guillaume Rue de Bernadac at Academie de Bernadac based in Paris and Shanghai, she founded Auersmont School of Etiquette.

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Serve and Savour Australian Wines

A variety of glass sizes and shapes are available for serving wines and spirits. Stemware is best for wines. The sizes and shapes above are the most common. The glassware’s size and shape is almost as important as the wine being poured.

Choosing the proper glassware for each variety of wine, can enhance the taste, the body, the aroma and the ultimate enjoyment of the wine. There are techniques for serving wines and selecting wines for your guests. The glassware’s size and shape is almost as important as the wine being poured.

Tips and Tricks

Serve white wine before red wines. Lighter wines before heavier wines.

Simple meals are enhanced when paired with complex wines. Complex meals can be enjoyed with simpler wines. It’s all a matter of taste.

When pouring your wine, slightly twist your wrist to the right as you finish pouring wine into the glass, before quickly tilting the bottle upright. This will help eliminate drips from the mouth of the bottle.

When you have washed your wine glasses, rinse them at least twice to get all the detergents out, as detergents can change the way the wine tastes.

Ideal Alcohol Serving Temperatures

Red Wines are best at room temperature, or below, if the weather is hot.
Serve red wines in large, open-bowled glasses, due to the wines tannins. The flavor of the wine improves with oxygen and the open bowl allows enough area for swirling and enjoying the “nose.”  (The “nose is all of the various aromas coming out of the wine.)


White Wines – 6-8 °C/43° F- 46° F
White wines are generally served in smaller-bowled wine glasses to keep the wine cooler.


Rosé Wines – 6-8°C/43° F- 46° F
Rosés are best served in a glass with a smaller bowl, to keep the wine cooler.


Sparkling Wine: 8-10°C / 46° F - 50° F
Use a tall, fluted or tulip shaped glass to contain the bubbles and to retain its effervescence (i.e. Keep it fizzy.)

Decanting Red Wines

Decanting allows wines to breathe. It “mellows” young wines. Allowing a young wine to air can “age” the wine.

Decanting wines also separates the wine from any sediments.

Older wines should be decanted less than 1 hour before a meal.

Young wines should be decanted 2-3 hours before a meal.


Tasting Wines — The Five S’s

See – Look at the wine, checking its clarity, sediment, and the colour of the wine. The colour of wine will tell you the intensity of the wine about to be tasted.

Swirl – Swirl the glass on the table, rotate your glass, this aerates the wine, swirling helps the wine interact with oxygen releasing aromas before smelling the wine. If there is high sugar content, it will leave streaks in the glass. (Called ‘legs’ or ‘tears’).

Smell – Holding the stem, place your nose inside and inhale. Never sniff the cork (there is no need as that is not where the smell is) however looking at it will indicate cracks, mould, and seepage. Sniffing the wine will tell you how intense the wine is, does it remind you of fruit, flowers etc.

Sip – Never drink the wine. Sip the wine and allow the wine to roll around in your mouth 3-5 seconds to coat your mouth so as to detect its overall structure. You will be thinking about its textures, flavours, and weight. By letting in oxygen to mix in with your wine (en mouth) you will get to know the full profile of the wine.

Savour – When you swallow the wine, you will get a different taste to that during the above procedures. By doing this you will be able to see the wine’s balance, and detect any notes of domination or not.


Champagne or Sparkling Wine?

Most of us love champagne. We enjoy hearing the distinctive “pop,” wondering if, and how far, the cork will go flying. We look forward to the effervescence and drinking those sharp bubbles... it really is an amazing beverage. Have you ever wondered what the etiquette for champagne is? Here are a few points on this special commodity:

1. The name champagne is protected by Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne and can be only used by the growers of that French region. In Australia the wording used is “sparkling wine.”

2. Sparkling wines must be chilled before serving. There are a few ways to chill wine, put the wine in the refrigerator and chill to 8-10°C/46- 50°F  or 3 hours. Putting it in ice and a bucket should take approximately 30 minutes to chill, and water will help bring the temperature down.

3. When uncorking the bottle, hold the cork and twist the bottle not the cork, Hold your glass upright rather than tilting your glass.  When pouring into the glass, fill it only a third of the way up. Never fill it to the top.

4. When uncorked, sparkling wine does not need to be left to breathe, like a red wine. When pouring, the wine will air and that is all it needs. It will keep for approximately 24 hours in the refrigerator with a wine stopper. You will be surprised how well sparkling wines will keep in this manner.

For many years, Etiquipedia contributor, Elizabeth Soos, has had a keen interest in cultural customs. With her European background and extensive travel, Soos developed an interest in the many forms of respect and cultural expectations in the countries she has visited. With her 20 years’ experience in customer service within private international companies based in Australia, and her lifetime interest in manners and research, she decided to branch out into the field of etiquette and deportment. Through her self-directed studies and by completing the Train-The-Trainer’s course offered by Emma Dupont’s School of Etiquette in London and by Guillaume Rue de Bernadac at Academie de Bernadac based in Paris and Shanghai, she founded Auersmont School of Etiquette.

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette in Post-Prohibition America

The dinners that used to call for long wine lists are also “out.” If you were to serve hors d’oeuvres, oysters, soup, fish, entree, salad, roast, sorbet, game, compote, cheese, pudding, fruit and nuts, each course with the appropriate accompaniment, how many of your guests would eat it all? In these days of dieting, nobody! We have simplified eating. The truly sophisticated long ago simplified drinking, also. 

Some Thoughts on the New Rules After Prohibition 

Don't believe all they tell you about the etiquette of serving a large variety of wines at the same meal. That was already “out” long before prohibition. In fact, the dinners themselves that used to call for long wine lists are also “out.” If you were to serve hors d’oeuvres, oysters, soup, fish, entree, salad, roast, sorbet, game, compote, cheese, pudding, fruit and nuts, each course with the appropriate accompaniment, how many of your guests would eat it all? In these days of dieting, nobody! We have simplified eating. The truly sophisticated long ago simplified drinking, also.

Instructors in alleged etiquette are urging you now not to serve more than two cocktails before dinner. Why two? If the purpose is an appetizer and a preliminary ceremonial, one will serve that better than two. If the purpose is to “tank up” why do that at a civilized meal in a civilized friend's house? That crudity should be relegated to the memories of the bootleg era. There are rougher places to do it, where you will offend nobody but yourself.

Also, since wine is now legal and legitimate, and California has a monopoly of the production of true wine in America, why not civilize our wine business, and teach the American people the civilized consumption of our wines. That means first producing some superfine wines, and popularizing them. No country can have more than a relatively small fraction of wines of the highest grade, but it is on these that the reputation of the rest depends. French wines stand high, not because all of them are good – most of them are ordinary, but because the best are the finest in the world. California can, and does produce some fine wines, also. Let us make them known.

And let us rid the American people of the inferiority complex, which makes us think the only wines to serve with pride are foreign ones. Germans prefer to serve German wines; French, French ones, and Italians, Spaniards, Greeks and South Africans their own wines. It is from England, where all the wines have to be imported, that we copy the idea of using only imported wine America, so long as California is in it, does not need to depend on the outside world. French wines, like French perfumes and French silks, have their luxury place. But let the wines of America hold the place in America which the wines of Italy have always held in Italy.

Let there, too, be a larger production of well-aged standard wine not the commercialized quick turnover, for the cheapest market, but something which, without being a luxury in price, can take its place as a standard article of American consumption, in whose quality and reputation we may take a just pride. And let there be places, all over the country, where good California wines are sold as such, and lists on every first-class hotel menu of the finer California wines. If Americans are going to drink, let them drink our product.

Finally, let the vulgarity be eliminated from American manners of thinking that “buying wine” is the way to splurge, and that “wine,” for that purpose, means champagne. Champagne has its place, to be sure though, to the sophisticated wine drinker it is a secondary one but wine, as the most civilized of alcoholic beverages, and the one whose chief function is social, is made neither for intoxication nor for display. If you must get drunk, do it on booze but not in a civilized house. If you must splurge, buy orchids. If you would make a good dinner better, do it with the Scriptural “a little wine, for thy stomach's sake” and make it “little.” This is all about drink. Since nearly all the other columns in all the papers are full of it, why not this one? - Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, Dec. 7, 1933

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Wine Pouring Etiquette’s Roots

“Way back in feudal times it was a custom, too. In those times, it told a man’s guests that if his flagon of wine was poisoned the contents of his own beaker would prove it.” – Pictured above- The proper positioning and proper number of wine glasses for the dining table, according to a 1940’s Canadian entertaining and etiquette book.

Etiquette of the Bottle

The waiter first pours a little from the newly opened bottle into your host’s glass. Why? Is it to cleanse the bottle of anything which passes off with the pouring of the first glass? No. Way back in feudal times it was a custom, too. In those times it told a man’s guests that if his flagon of wine was poisoned, the contents of his own beaker would prove it. So if a guest didn't see his host doubled up with the cramps, and his face working like a jumping jack, it was safe to conclude that the wine was all right, and the repast might proceed. – The Morning Union News, 1892

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

Male Polish on Wine Etiquette

(Q.)“Must I toast EVERY time?” J. J. M., New Haven, Conn.
(A.) Yep, or risk insulting the guest of honor. But you don't have to down a glass with every toast (regardless of what boozehounds and traditionalists say). By sipping and fake sipping, you can toast till dawn on a single drink. – Did you know? “Gourmet” is old French for “wine taster” and the word is used properly in this 1957 etiquette advice column. A “gourmand” and not “gourmet” is the proper term for someone who loves food.

Don'ts Of Drinking Wine

Discovering that “Male Polish” today is all about wine etiquette, non-drinkers may be tempted to sashay elsewhere. But stick around, fellows. Wine etiquette reserves its most ticklish problem for people who never touch the stuff. 

WITH GOURMETS: The problem is, in fact, how in this boozy world do you avoid touching the stuff gracefully? You're dining with gourmets. Wine is served. For reasons of conscience or constitution, you don't want any. So what do you do? Put your hand over the glass? Turn it upside down? Both smack of histrionics. Or do you go into a spiel about the “Evils of Drink,” or the “Virtuous Life,” or “Wine Gives Me Heartburn?” Spellbinding as these subjects may be, they aren't likely to inspire a dinner companion whose chablis glass is lipward bound. 

JUST SAY NO: The thing to do, of course, is say “No, thank you” without any fuss whatever. No person in the world has less need to explain or apologize than a teetotaler. A wine etiquette for non-wine drinkers obviously is not too complicated. What about men who do drink wine? The biggest goof is to guzzle. Wine is not beer. To swill it in large daughts is to miss the subtleties of bouquet and flavor. Apart from this, gluttony in any form is bad manners. 

The second biggest goof is to be a Connoisseur with a capital C. The “Wine Snob” doesn't drink much; he just talks. But his lectures on vintage and vintner, body and bouquet, are so rapt and endless, many guests wish he would drink up and shut up. 

Goof No. 3 is to know nothing at all about wines. This is not really the world-shaking goof Connoisseurs would have us believe. All the same, if you expect to do any fancy hosting, it's well to have a nodding acquaintance with Bacchus. 

ALMOST as important as the wine itself is the technique of serving it. Traditionally, the host pours a little in his glass before serving counter-clockwise around the table. This is to assure bits of cork will land in his glass, not in the guests’. Some hosts even sip the wine before pouring, though others feel this is carrying tradition too far. 

Wine bottles should not be swathed in a napkin. Highly sedimented wine should be decanted or at least served from a basket. Wine glasses should be filled only two-thirds full, giving the bouquet room to rise.

Traditionally white wine (chilled) goes with light meat and seafood; red wine (room temperature) with red meat and game; and rosé wine with nearly anything. Many people feel that, with respect to wine anyhow, palate and pocketbook count more than tradition. They're probably right.

Q & A ON P’S & Q’S (Q) “I went to a bachelor party the other night and everybody was toast-happy. There were a dozen toasts, so I had a dozen drinks. Felt awful the next day. Must I toast EVERY time?” J. J. M., New Haven, Conn. (A) Yep, or risk insulting the guest of honor. But you don't have to down a glass with every toast (regardless of what boozehounds and traditionalists say). By sipping and fake sipping, you can toast till dawn on a single drink. – Don Goodwin, Copyright 1957

 Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia