South Australia

Famous wine-growing region (GI) in South Australia, in Australia. It has a unique characteristic soil type (reddish, with a high iron content, see under Terra Rosa), and is located around 400 kilometres south of Adelaide close to the town of Penola in the federal state of South Australia. The name is an aborigine word as translates as honeysuckle. While early settlers noted the special properties of the soil in the 1860’s, it was initially used only for fruit farming. Scotsman John Riddoch (1827-1901) is considered to be the father of this wine-growing region. He gave the region its name, and was the first to establish vineyards in the area of what are now the Katnook Estate and Wynns estate early in the 1890’s, he sold 800 hectares of land, bringing about a boom. From about 1960 onward, producers realised the region was perfectly suited fort he production of red wines, particularly from Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. The region has a very special cigar-shaped area of soil, only 14,5 kilometres long and 1,5 kilometres wide, which has a red layer of soil containing a large amount of iron only around 5 to 50 centimetres deep, and known as Terra Rossa, or red soil. Below this is a layer of limestone 1,5 to 2 metres thick, and below this is the ground water level, constantly fed by sub-terranean streams of water from the mountains. The second most important factor is the climate. Coonawarra is the most southerly wine-growing region in South Australia, located only 60 kilometres from the cool southern ocean with ist cold Antarctic winds. Winters are cold with plentiful rain, spirngs are cool and sometimes icy. Mild, dry summers are followed by a long, cool autumn. This means the vines have a long cool growing and maturation period, intense aromas are built up slowly in the grapes, and acidity is balanced. In many respects, the region is quite similar to the Médoc region in Bordeaux in France. There are many wine estates in the region, for example Brand´s (300 ha), Hardy (280 ha), Lindemans (202 ha), Katnook Estate (330 ha), Mildara (255 ha), Penfolds (200 ha), Rymill (120 ha) and Wynns (850 ha). The total vineyard area is around 2.500 hectares.