The Master of Australian Wine

Andrew Caillard C’78 is one of the most authoritative wine experts in Australia, a central figure who has been shaping that nation's fine wine agenda for over 40 years. His newly published book, The Australian Ark, is a landmark history of the wine industry and its people from 1788 to the present day. 

Upon leaving Worth, Andrew headed to Roseworthy Agricultural College in South Australia where he studied winemaking and marketing. A lifelong fascination for the wine industry and the social, economic and political history of Australia was sown through his family heritage (The Reynell family). In 1993 he passed the rigorous and coveted Master of Wine exam, winning the Madame Bollinger Medal for excellence in wine tasting which Andrew puts down to the ‘discipline of writing Oxbridge style essays at Worth’, and has gone on to author several wine books. Although the causes of the English Civil War are far removed from a career in wine, Andrew says that it was his history teacher, Fr Bernard Moss, who taught him “to write essays with well thought out argument, topped and tailed with solid introductions and conclusions” and these were the foundations of his future life as a writer. He goes on to say, “Ultimately the teaching culture and enlightened thinking at Worth (rather than exam grades) were highly influential in shaping my outlooks and values”. 

Meanwhile Andrew co-founded the Australian wine auction house Langton’s where he created its definitive Classification of Australian Wine. Over the last fifteen years he has worked as a corporate executive and adviser while maintaining a role as an international wine judge and working as a freelance writer, author, filmmaker (Red Obsession and Blind Ambition) and painter. 

Described as an “extraordinary achievement” and a “masterpiece” by industry insiders, The Australian Ark covers 1,762 pages over 3 volumes with 1,200+ illustrations. At half a million words and weighing in at 5.3 kilograms, it promises to help reshape Australia’s fine wine ambitions. Speaking about the book Andrew says, “This is a very different type of wine book. It’s really a history of Australia through the prism of wine and viticulture. Although there are tragic stories, we should be proud of our forefathers (and mothers) and Australia's achievements, now making some of the greatest and most beautiful wines in the world.”

The Australian Ark is available to purchase from the Academie du Vin Library Shop.