Wine grapes arrived in Australia in the 18th century, though it took the 19th and early 20th century for wine making to become a major industry. There's some wine making in all seven of Australia's states, though the best known regions, and the ones most likely to be producing wine for export, are South Australia (especially famed for the wines from the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, Clare Valley, Adelaide Hills, Coonawarra), West Australia (the South-West area, especially around Swan River), New South Wales, Victoria (Yarra Valley), Tasmania, and Queensland. There are roughly a hundred or so G.I. or legally recognized geographic regions with respect to wine making, and looking out for the specifics on wine lables is a helpful guide in terms of what to expect. 

I know that a lot of the large-scale mass-produced cheap wines for export have a not unreasonable reputation for high ABV and being so very fruit-forward that I've been tempted to describe more than one as overly aggressive wines, but looking closely at those wine labels will help you sort the best from the rest.

In North America, Australia is especially known for her red wines, most notably, Australian Shiraz (better known in much of the world as Syrah), Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Grenache, and more recently, Pinot Noir. You'll also see Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon blends. In terms of white wines, Australia is especially known for Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, and Semillon. The two most widely grown grapes are Shiraz and Chardonnay.

My very favorite general site about Australian wines, is Australian Wine Spot. Australian Wine Spot gives you enough information about the various G.I. and wine-growing regions and varietals that you can make sense of the labels on the wine you see for sale Stateside. Some of the more affordable Australian consumer wine labels are Boonaroo (See a review of the Boonaroo Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz), Frank Bronco's Crane Lake Downunder Chardonnay, which I've found to be quite respectable, various Aussie Vineyards labels, especially AU wines, like the AU Barossa Valley Shiraz, or 12 Apostles Eastern Australian Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, 2009. You'll also see labels like The Bandit Wines from Houthton, and the ubiquitous kangaroo bottles at mini marts and grocery stores, Yellow Tail. Penfolds is one of the Big Ten Aussie wineries, and also, one of the most recognized and award-wining wineries outside of Australia. You'll often see Penfolds wines on restaurant menus. There's also my personal favorite, Rosemont Wines; the first Australian wine I ever tried, and my very first Shiraz.