In January 1788, an English ship with 300 convicts and guards landed on the south-eastern coast of Australia in the harbour of Sydney, which was founded in the same year. The commander was Captain Arthur Phillip (1738-1814), later the first governor of the state of New South Wales. He recorded in writing that viticulture could be carried to any desired degree of perfection in such a favourable climate. Work immediately began on planting the vines he had brought with him, where the heritage-listed Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney now stands. Opened in 1816 and later home to Sydney's first zoo, the garden is now Australia's oldest scientific institution and one of the most important historic botanical facilities in the world. But it was to take 200 years for Australian viticulture to become established. Rum was drunk so excessively in the first decades that the camp was called "Rum Corps".
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Dominik Trick
Technischer Lehrer, staatl. geprüfter Sommelier, Hotelfachschule Heidelberg