in article , st.helier at
wrote on 18/7/05 6:32 AM:

> "Marcello Fabretti" wrote.............
>>> At a later date, the Australians got their original Syrah/Shiraz
>>> cuttings from SA, so they named them what they were where they got
>>> them, which was Shiraz. The OZ Syrah did not come directly from
>>> France.
>
>> I think you'll find that Busby, the guy who brought
>> the first cuttings over from Europe and started the Aussie wine industry,
>> got most of his cuttings in Europe and actually toured the Rhone in search
>> of material. It is true that he stopped in Cape Town on the way to Oz, but
>> so did every ship back then.
>
> Marcello, you are 100% correct - in fact James Busby (1802-1871) really
> lived up to his name - he was a real busy bee (sorry!!!)
>
> As a youth he studied viticulture in France before immigrating to Australia
> with his parents, where he pioneered grape growing in New South Wales.
>
> He later returned to Europe where he gathered cuttings of some 600 varieties
> mainly from France and Spain; successfully growing over 350 at the Sydney
> Botanic gardens) - and returned them to Australia where he is now regarded
> as the "father of the Australian wine industry."
>
> However, this same James Busby is also accredited with being New Zealand's
> first winemaker (1833) after he "saw the light and fled the flies and
> bushfires" and jumped the Tasman to Godzone!!!
>
> --
>
> st.helier
>
>
You couldn't help yourself...

Marcello