Great Innovators: The Rise of Australian Wine

Presented by actor and wine maker Sam Neill, this one-hour documentary recounts the early history of wine-making in Australia and how the industry took the world by storm in a relatively short time.

Featuring interviews with notable wine writers, critics, reviewers, collectors, investors and winemakers from around the globe, the program unravels the secrets behind the success story that has transformed a maligned industry into Australia becoming the fifth-largest wine exporting nation on earth.

The program dissects the culture of innovation, experimentation and derring-do that underpins the Australian wine industry as well as the clever, often left-of-centre, marketing bravado that eventually turned around international attitudes towards wines produced in the Antipodes.

As Sam Neill probes this unlikely reversal of fortunes we gain an insight into the Australian character and find out how, after working hard to become a modern-day market leader in an ancient industry, Australian winemakers are planning even greater overseas conquests.

Viewers will gain an insight into the fascinating story of Australia’s most famous wine, Penfolds Grange, which survived a turbulent birth to become one of the great wines of the world.

First screened 18 October 2018.