Australia
Barossa Valley
The Barossa Valley is the home of the South Australian wine industry and many claim the birth place of great Australian Shiraz. It is the Barossa that houses many of Australia’s largest and best know wineries with huge reputations. It has been the home of The Colonial Estate since 2002. While Shiraz is the region’s undisputed hero, Cabernet Sauvignon also is richly flavored and comples and the region also produces high quality Semillon, Chardonnay and Riesling – particularly in the cooler climes of the adjacent Eden Valley.
An icon of Australian winemaking, the Barossa remains one of the major grape producing regions in the country.
Main Varieties
Shiraz, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvedre, Merlot Riesling, Semillon, Chardonnay
Harvest Period
Late February to late April
Soil Types
Barossa soil types vary from alluvial sands and rich fertile black soils of the Valley floor to the unfertile slopes overlaying the limestone of Eden Valley to sandy loam over clays of the western Barossa.
McLaren Vale
Situated 40km southeast of Adelaide this region is regarded as one of the finest in Australia for full flavored Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Fruit sourced from the region is traditionally richly flavored, producing wines of great color and structure. The region is also earning a reputation for Chardonnay.
Main Varieties
Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Chardonnay, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc
Harvest Period
Late February to late April
Soil Types
Vines are planted on a wide range of soils including podsolic soils of low fertility, fertile red brown earths, terra rosa renzina, solodic and dark cracking soils.
Point of interest
By the 1990’s, McLaren Valee was shrugging off its reputation as the “middle palate of Australia” and establishing its unique regional identity as a high quality region for full-blooded reds.
Western Australia, Margaret River
Margaret River is an example of that New World phenomenon, a wine region that rises from nowhere to take center stage. Nobody had heard of Margaret River wine until the late 1970’s. It was a trio of local doctors who first took note of suggestions that the gentle slopes in the far south-western corner of the state might be ideal for vines: cool but sunny, with long warm autumns, no frost and no rain at vintage time. They planted vineyards and found that they had backed a winner. This is Australia’s premier region for wine lovers who seek class and finesse, rather than weight and glory. The only climatic disadvantage is the wind, which gets uncomfortably strong at times. But this cool climate does produce remarkably concentrated, clean fruited wines.
Western Australia, Great Southern
A region encompassing the Mount Barker and Frankland districts. It is the coolest of Western Australia’s wine growing areas, although it has similar climatic influences to the Margaret River, but with lower rainfall. The vineyards are scattered throughout a vast area, and mostly consist of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.