Syrah into Australia in 1832 by James Busby, an immigrant who brought vine clippings from Europe with him, and it is almost invariably called "Shiraz". Today it is Australia's most popular red grape, but has not always been in such favour; in the 1970s, white wine was so popular that growers were ripping out unprofitable Shiraz and Grenache vineyards, even those with old vines. In the Barossa Valley, the world's oldest continually producing commercial vineyard is believed to be the Shiraz vines at Turkey Flat in Tanunda that were originally planted in 1847. Many factors, including the success of brands like
Irrigation in Australia million in 2000-01. Water use by the rice industry fell between 2000/01 and 2004/05, due mainly to smaller planted areas during the drought; the rice industry used in 2000/01, in 2004/05 and in 2008/09. Wine, dried and table grapes are grown commercially in all States and Territories. Grape production is the fifth largest fruit industry in Australia. Of that production wine grape production at over per annum is almost nine times the production of dried grapes and 14 times the production of table grapes. A comparison with other grape producing countries throughout the world shows that Australia was the fourteenth