South Australia (SA) is Australia's wine heartland, producing most of the country's wine and boasting some of its oldest vines. The dry, hot climate ripens grapes fully, making bold, dense and concentrated wines.
The Barossa Valley has a rich viticultural history with patches of bush-trained vines, many more than 100 years old. It is first and foremost a red wine region. Shiraz is king but cabernet sauvignon, grenache and mourvèdre play an important part, too.
Close to the Barossa is the Eden Valley, a windswept series of elevated hills producing exceptional shiraz and floral riesling. Just north of the Barossa is the Clare Valley, which represents Australia's pinnacle for riesling, where elevated vineyards temper the intense heat, producing dry whites of immense class and purity. The region's powerful and muscular reds can be outstanding too.
On the coast south of Adelaide is McLaren Vale, which vies with Barossa to be SA's best red-wine region. The climate is warm enough to...
South Australia (SA) is Australia's wine heartland, producing most of the country's wine and boasting some of its oldest vines. The dry, hot climate ripens grapes fully, making bold, dense and concentrated wines.
The Barossa Valley has a rich viticultural history with patches of bush-trained vines, many more than 100 years old. It is first and foremost a red wine region. Shiraz is king but cabernet sauvignon, grenache and mourvèdre play an important part, too.
Close to the Barossa is the Eden Valley, a windswept series of elevated hills producing exceptional shiraz and floral riesling. Just north of the Barossa is the Clare Valley, which represents Australia's pinnacle for riesling, where elevated vineyards temper the intense heat, producing dry whites of immense class and purity. The region's powerful and muscular reds can be outstanding too.
On the coast south of Adelaide is McLaren Vale, which vies with Barossa to be SA's best red-wine region. The climate is warm enough to guarantee lush, chocolatey reds from shiraz, grenache and cabernet, while its strong maritime influence invests elegance in chardonnay, viognier and marsanne. Nearby Langhorne is cooled by the lake and nearby sea, and grows grapes of very good quality at a low cost. These excellent-value wines are marked by a softness and fullness of flavour. The Adelaide Hills area east of the city are cool and provide the perfect ingredients for lemony sauvignon blanc and chardonnay. Coonawarra, further south-east behind the Limestone Coast, is South Australia's leading cabernet region, the unique terra rossa soil and maritime influence producing grapes with intense flavours and fabulous structure.
