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<pre>>Surely this is a simplistic argument. You ask us who
> produces the top wines in Australia and then you
> answer in the voice of an imaginary dominant value
> group that identifies the biggest wine companies as
> the producers of the best wines, i.e. Grange Hermitage
> and Rosemount Roxborough. Of course it all depends
> upon the context of the evaluation. Are you saying the
> most expensive wines are the best? Grange has now
> become a commodity that is rarely consumed. Its
> symbolic value has ascribed it a capital value which
> transcends its value as a beverage for consumption.
> Roxborough Chardonnay is held in greater esteem in its
> state of origin, NSW, than in SA where Hunter Valley
> wines are not greeted with the same level of interest
> as regions such as Clare Valley, Margaret River or
> Mornington Peninsula.

Resisting the temptation for a "State of Origin" stouch ....

Yes, you have a very valid point. I only picked on Rosemount because I was
familar with their product. I could just as easily have picked any major
winery from any major wine producing area and probably found an example.

Of course there are fantastic wines made by dedicated winemakers on small
scales throughout the land. However, price does start to become a factor in
the process. Does the consumer value the difference between a $10 bottle of
Australian EVOO and a $20 bottle the same way they see wine?
>
> Great wine and great olive oil is first and foremost
> made from great fruit. The fruit and the product is
> distinctive in the market place because of the
> terroir; that is the regional characteristics such as
> soil, climate, rainfall etc.

Does that hold true for olives? Comeback in 200 years and I'll give you an
answer.

The product is further
> distinguished by its mode of production. Different
> components are assembled and treated in different ways
> to provide complexity and to develop the intensity of
> characteristics identified in the fruit.

Other than using a traditional press or a modern cetrifuge type system,
what other variations do we have? We don't have different yeast strains,
different types of fermentation vessels, temperature control, barrels or the
like. Its just the oil squeezed out of an olive.

And of course
> the product is positioned in the market place with a
> commodity value which may represent the advertising
> dollar more than the quality of the product itself.
> Certainly the large wineries have much greater
> economic capital than the small producers and hence a
> much greater capacity (and volume) to sell their
> product. There are very few bad wines ( ie faulty
> wines) made in Australia today. There are many
> different qualities and price points available, just
> as one would expect with olive oil.
>

One final wine analogy. The current popularity both here and overseas has
been due in a large part to the big companies creating a market for
themselves. Who drank wine 30 years ago? Who doesn't today? Without Wolf
Blass, Len Evans, Brian Mcguigan, Peter Lehmann and the like talking the
punters into trying wine there would be no wine market.
Look at the export field. Jacob's Creek lead the way and everybody else
followed them in. Not a boutique company, but 4 or 5 really progessive, big
companies trying to establish a market for themselves and at the same time
creating a market for everybody else.

Unless the big players such as Viva are prepared to spend serious money
creating a demand for oilive oil and persuading the consumer that Australian
is as good or better than the imported stuff, then I am going to struggle to
sell my couple of hundred bottles at a decent price.

> Any producer, large or small with access to premium
> fruit, appropriate equipment and creative and
> technical skills is capable of producing great wine or
> olive oil.Large producers produce many different
> products, including 'hands on', cutting edge attention
> to detail super premium products and large volume
> every day consumption products. The point of
> contention that concerns us all is in the equation
> between creative, quality interests versus the need
> for financial return and accountability. Size is not
> the issue! Quality will always be represented by
> different niche markets and different socially
> constructed perceptions of quality and value.
>
>
>
> Antony Whiting
> First Creek
> Waterfall Gully
> South Australia.
>

We come to the curly question. Selling the stuff. From my wine industry
background I know how much time, money and effort goes into producing a
bottle, and how much more goes into selling it. I can't see olive oil being
any different. I haven't yet had time to go into exactly what it has cost me
to plant and maintain the grove, pick and process the fruit and produce the
oil, but I suspect I really don't want to know!

Regards,

Mike Wilson
Broke (its a town, honest!)
Hunter Valley
</pre>
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