South Australia

Wine-growing region (GI) in the federal state of South Australia in Australia, it may also be referred to as Murray River Valley, and is parto f the Lower Murray zone. It stretches from the border with the federal state of Victoria along the Murray River. The climate is typically continental, with long hot days and cool nights. Rain falls only in winter. The soils are generally sandy and only moderately fertile. For this reason, irrigation is essential, this is provided by the Murray River, which flows throughout the large region. The system of irrigation canals was built in 1880 by the brothers George and William Chaffey. As their starting point they selected the small town of Renmark, where reservoirs were constructed. A positive result is that this also helped to eliminate flooding I nthe area, leading to additional land being cultivated. Today the vineyard area totals some 9.500 hectares. The Riverland region provides more than a third of the grape production of Australia, and it is also known as the „big barrel of Australia“. Mainly white wines are produced here from the following varieties: Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Colombard and Riesling. The most important red varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache Noir, Shiraz and Mourvèdre. Most of the production is of fairly basic mass-produced wines, many of which are marketed in bag-in-box containers. In addition, many successful branded wines of other regions also use fruit from here. Large amounts of table grapes and raisins are produced from the Sultana variety. Well-known wine producers include Angove´s, Berri-Renmano Estate (owned by Hardy) and Kingston Estate.