Australia did not become a nation of table wine drinkers until the wine and food awakening dating from the 1950s. Still, why didn’t the small number that drank table wines over the 50 years to 1950 request local wines made from Cabernet since they drank imported Claret and French Bordeaux both Cabernet styles.
Plantings existed though were not common and the most famous is the small vineyard, Block 42, in the northern Barossa where Cabernet vines planted in 1890 to 1892 survive.
By the early 1970s the strength of the table wine boom had set off an expansion of vineyards in long established districts and in new districts. The supply of Cabernet was greatly expanded though the balance with demand did not appear till the 1980s.
Cabernet is now the second most important red variety to Shiraz. Over time it became fashionable for the best Cabernet to be associated with cooler regions and fabulous wines like Barossa Cabernet were overlooked.
Barossa Cabernet has a long pedigree and while warm climate Cabernet are still unfashionable there day will come again. Till this higher status is recognised they remain bargains for smart drinkers.