Back in the late nineteen-eighties a curious phenomenon took place. Some forward looking French vineyard owners put aside their natural and instinctive chauvinism and invited some Australian wine-makers to France to show them the new and exciting Antipodean techniques. That the French were prepared to take advice and instruction from the upstart Australians was truly surprising. The myth of 'The Flying Winemakers' was born.

What these early proponents of cross-cultural exchange were doing was showing some staid and unimaginative French wine-makers how the Australians had managed to produce new and interesting flavours and wine-styles. Why this came about at all is an interesting tale. In most of France, wine-making techniques are profoundly traditional. In some cases, like in the Bordeaux, this produces some of the finest red wines on the planet, but in other cases, such as wines from the then wine-lake country of the south, it produced intensely mediocre wines from undistinguished grape stocks. These were the growers who would most benefit from a change of direction.

What the Australians had managed to do was new tricks with old vines. With the very same grapes that had originally come from France, grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, they managed to make fresh, fruity wines that captured a whole new wine-buying market. People who had never enjoyed a glass of austere, thin, tart wine were now converted to the grape. A whole new market was there for the taking. For French producers who were watching their traditional market slowly disappear, these new techniques held out a beacon a hope - if they could emulate the Ozzie upstarts, then they too could profit from this new market.

Slowly, since the eighties, there has been an increasing homogenisation of wine styles, especially at the mass market end of the spectrum. A varietal Merlot from South Africa, Chile, Australia or California can taste remarkably similar. Big fruit on the nose and palate are the new watchwords, maximum extraction is the wine-makers' new code.

For white wines the tale is much the same, modern vinification methods ensure much more fresh fruit on the palate and more crisp notes on the nose. Anyone who can remember the dry, tart, sharp whites that dominated the lower end of the French market twenty years ago, can only be delighted with the changes.

Wine of the Week

Sauvignon Blanc, Winemaker's Reserve, 2002, Babich.

An example of the Antipodean wine-makers' skills. Joe Babich has been making wines for over thirty years and this one is a fine example of what the Sauvignon Blanc can produce down under. It has all the fresh crispness you'd expect from New Zealand, but is less aggressively dry than many others. It has a softness and a suppleness that I liked.

Widely Available, RRP €15.49