e entered the eighth decade of the 20th century with inflation rife and unemployment high and predictions that if we didn’t start to move on developing wine export markets in the next three to five years it would all be too late. But our illustrious Editor was far more optimistic about Australia’s wine future. In the first Winestate issue for 1980, Peter Simic predicted a great period for the Australian wine industry. “We will gain international stature,” he said, “whilst at home wine will become regarded as an everyday consumer foodstuff like bread!” But above all, he said,
