There are more than 240 cellar doors
in South Australia, and most are located within a two hours drive
of Adelaide - whether you're behind the wheel, or your tour driver.
There are B&Bs, small inns, and luxury retreats dotted through
the seventeen wine regions, making a few days' visiting a most pleasurable
way to see the state. If your time is short, or you want to get
in some advance education, the National
Wine Centre in Adelaide is the place to start, and there are
innumerable wine stores from which you can make a selection from
knoweledgeable staff. Whichever way you prefer, getting familiar
with South Australian wine is a must during your visit.
We've given a brief overview of
some of South Australia's better known, and most accessible wine
regions, below. If there's a favorite wine you'd like to find during
your stay, let us know,and we'll tell you where the winery is. We've
also provided links (click on the region's name) to the regions
so you can do your own sleuthing. Enjoy!
THE
BAROSSA
The Barossa is Australia's best-known
and most important wine region 
and
is home to some of the most famous wine companies in the world including,
Jacobs Creek,
Penfolds
and Wolf
Blass. Just one hour's drive north of Adelaide, this picturesque
and compact wine region contains more than 60 wineries and cellar
doors, from small family enterprises to national companies. The
region was originally named Barrosa by Colonel William Light, who
surveyed the region, after the site of a victory by the English
over the French in the Spanish Peninsula War. Misspelling on later
maps gave it the unique Australian name, Barossa. The main red varieties
grown in the Barossa are Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache,
while the key white grape varieties are Riesling, Semillon and Chardonnay.
Shiraz has pride of place in the region because this is the birthplace
of one of the world's great wines – Penfolds Grange.
Food is central to any winemaking
culture and the Barossa is no exception. The local butchers and
bakers clearly show their German past with delicious smoked hams
and sourdough breads. Also flourishing are the old traditions of
pickling and preserving, and specialty dried fruits and glazed nuts.
Suggested try-me wine: Grant
Burge Abednego Shiraz Grenache Mouvedre
CLARE
VALLEY
The Clare Valley produces some of
Australia's premier cool climate wines, with a national and international
reputation for quality and character. Settlers from England, Ireland
and Poland first moved into the Clare Valley during the 1840s producing
a rich heritage of architecture and villages, which remain largely
intact. Many of these buildings now serve as guesthouses, premium
restaurants and galleries. There are more than 40 cellar doors in
and around the five valleys. Cellar doors really are the best places
to learn about wine and the friendly staff love nothing more than
guiding visitors through the range of wines on offer. They also
enjoy sharing the history and stories of the wineries and the region.
And with the hands-on nature of boutique wineries, you will sometimes
find the winemakers themselves behind the cellar door counter.
Suggested try-me wine: Kilikanoon
Oracle Shiraz
RIVERLAND
Although not nearly as well known
as the other wine regions in the state, the warm and sunny Riverland
is actually the largest wine-producing region in Australia, accounting
for a
round
30% of the total wine production of Australia and 60% of South Australia's
production. Home to Australia's largest winery, Hardy Wine Company's
Berri
Estate, and wine companies large and small, the Riverland has
a growing number of cellar doors that offer tastings of a wide range
of wines. It is also the home to Banrock
Station, which in addition to a well-known wine brand is an
eco¬tourism project between Hardy Wines and Wetlands Australia
to replenish the Murray River's wetlands with birdlife, native fish
and flora.
Suggested try-me wine:Salena
Estates Chardonnay (taste warning: this is a mildly oaked buttery
style)
McLAREN
VALE
Standing at the gateway to the Fleurieu
Peninsula with around 50 cellar doors is McLaren Vale. It is the
place for bold shiraz, elegant cabernet sauvignon and some of the
best chardonnay in Australia. John Reynell planted the region's
first grapes in 1838 at Reynella, where he employed a young laborer
named Thomas Hardy and laid the foundations to two dynasties that
would, dominate the region for more than a century. Some of the
cellar doors seemed to have not changed much; Tatachilla
still reeks of history and still looks like a good old-fashioned
winery and so to does Hardy's Tintara. Others have moved, with the
times such as d'Arenberg with its splendid cellar door and restaurant
lip and there is also a constantly growing new generation of small
wineries such as Chapel
Hill Winery. The region also has fantastic food, visitors will
find themselves exposed at every turn to roadside outlets selling
jams, relishes, hand-made breads, traditional cured and smoked meats,
rich cheese and much more.
Suggested try-me wine: Pirramimma
Petit Verdot
COONAWARRA
The Coonawarra wine region was founded
in 1891 by Scottish settler John Riddoch, who realized the potential
of its rich, red soils. Today these soils yield some of the best
wine grapes in the world. The terra rossa soil sitting atop deep
limestone beds along a cigar shaped strip of land, has led to Coonawarra's
vineyards becoming the most sought after in Australia. Described
as the ‘Bordeaux of Australia,' the climate is also significant,
with cold, wet winters, warm summers and a long ripening season.
Cabernet Sauvignon is the main wine of the region, comprising over
50% of its vineyard plantings.
Suggested try-me wine: Majella
Malleea Coonawarra Cab/Shiraz
THE ADELAIDE
HILLS
The Adelaide Hills is one of Australia's
premier high altitude wine regi
ons,
with the region's major grape varieties including chardonnay, pinot
noir, sauvignon blanc and shiraz. A diverse range of climatic zones
have enabled, the region's winemakers to produce subtle variations
in wines and the steep slopes of many of the region's vineyards
make hand-pruning and picking a necessity. There are now 26 cellar
doors in the region ranging from more well-known names such as Petaluma
and Nepenthe
to small, family run vineyards.
Suggested try-me wine: Nepenthe
Sauvignon Blanc
