Jodie Brittain

Australian Wine Growing Regions

Each states best wine regions in Australia.

Australia is a large country with a wide range of climates and soil types. This allows us to produce all of the major wine types; red wines, white wines, fortified wines, sweet dessert wines and sparkling wines.

The main wine producing regions of Australia are located in the cooler south east of the country. There are about 60 wine-producing regions located across the country, with vineyards in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales producing most of Australia's wine. However, wine is produced in every one of the six states and two territories.

South Australia produces most of Australia’s wines and also has some of the oldest grape vines in the world. Vines in the Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills survived a great phylloxera disease that wiped out vines in Europe and North America, and later the eastern vineyards of Australia. The State has a diversity of soils and climatic zones and there are seventeen different wine growing regions.The major wine growing regions of South Australia are the Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills, the Riverland, McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek, Clare Valley, Coonawarra and Padthaway.

Victoria's wine history goes back to 1838 and Victoria was the premier wine State in Australia until the spread of phylloxera. There are more than 20 wine growing regions in Victoria,with the major regions being Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, Geelong, Macedon Ranges, Goulburn Valley, Bendigo and Rutherglen.

New South Wales was the first State in Australia to be colonised by Europeans and is Australia’s oldest wine growing region. It has an extremely diverse range of climates and is home to around a dozen different wine regions. The major wine growing regions of New South Wales are the Hunter Valley, Mudgee and the Riverina.

Western Australia is Australia’s largest state and has the country's most isolated wine regions in its southwest corner. Since 1970 the area has undergone many changes with many new regions coming into existence. This region has become known for Sauvignon Blancs, Cabernet Sauvignons and Zinfandel. The major wine growing regions of Western Australia are Swan Valley, Margaret River and Great Southern.

The island state of Tasmania has a cool climate. It is ideally suited for the production of superb sparkling wine from classic varieties such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Tasmania also produces crisp, delicately flavoured bottled wines from Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which are noted for naturally balanced acidity and finesse.

Queensland has generally been regarded as too close to the tropics and too hot to produce quality wines. However, vineyard developments are steadily on the increase, with vineyards requiring a high altitude site to compensate for the hot climate. Queensland only produces a small amount of wine compared with the other States and boasts the closest vineyard to the equator. The two wine regions in Queensland are the Granite Belt and South Burnett.

Australian Capital Territory

The Canberra Wine Region comprises the Australian Capital Territory and the surrounding area of New South Wales. The cooler climate of the Canberra District is renowned for it's consistently performing white varieties such as Chardonnay and Riesling. Most of the vineyards are young, having been established since 1990.

In the dry red heart of the Australian continent, the Northern Territory boasts a boutique vineyard and winery, the Chateau Hornsby, located 15 kilometres from Alice Springs.

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