Wines from Adelaide Hills

Adelaide Hills with a Cellar around Every Corner

Adelaide Hills, which is located in the southern wine zone of Australia, is found to be one of the largest wine regions in the country.

Not only its largest but also one of the oldest regions in the country.

Charles Melton – Voices of Angels Adelaide Hills Shiraz 2010 6x 75cl Bottles
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This region is a part of the Mount Lofty Ranges and its borders are found to be Fleurieu Peninsula, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, and Eden Valley.

We can say that the region’s wine industry was boosted by its proximity to the capital city Adelaide and its natural beauty.

Now, let’s see all about the viticulture and viniculture in this important wine region here…

The Story of Adelaide Hills Wine Industry

The story of the wine industry in Adelaide was started in the year 1836 when the first vineyard of South Australia was planted in the North Adelaide.

As you might have already guessed, it was planted by one of the European settlers and therefore, obviously, these cuttings were of European origin.

Egon Muller – Adelaide Hills, Kanta Riesling 2005 75cl Bottle
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It is believed that the first plantings were of either Grenache or Shiraz. Following this, many other vineyards were planted and before 1900, the region had more than 225 vine growers who were known to practice viticulture and viniculture here.

The wine industry of Adelaide Hills faced a downtime of almost 50 years due to the withdrawal of Imperial Preference.

It was only during the 1970s and 1980s that the revival of wine industry took place here. Since then, the industry has seen a continued growth with several small artisan wine producers who are producing an exotic range of European-style wines here.

Now, the region is recognized as one of the geographical indication wine regions in the country.

Geography and Climate of Adelaide Hills

The Adelaide Hills wine region is found to be stretching from the Flinders Ranges to the Kangaroo Island.

The regions sediments were believed to be deposited almost 500 to 800 million years ago.

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We can understand that the region’s geography and climate have made the soils diverse in their structure and chemistry. The major types of soils that are found here are loams and sandy or clay loams. These soils are often found to be combined with shale and ironstone.

We can see that the low-lying areas with heavier soils are offering the potential for greater vigour in the vines, while the higher areas are allowing for a better control of vigour.

However, both these types are being utilized for wine production based on the grape varieties and wine styles produced. The viticultural zone of Adelaide Hills includes all the areas that are lying above 300 meters from the ground level.

This altitude is found to be having some major impacts on vine cultivation, temperature, and rainfall. The cooler temperatures that are prevailing in these areas are found to be significant for the final stages of grape ripening here.

A number of valleys are found to be present on the hilly terrains, which are experiencing various slopes and sunlight exposure.

As a result of this, the region as a whole is experiencing a wide range of mesoclimates. This one aspect makes the selection of the site for vine cultivation more significant here.

Wine Grape Varieties in Adelaide Hills

We can observe that the cooler climate of the region is more suitable for the cultivation of the following grape varieties:

Sauvignon Blanc
Riesling
Chardonnay
Semillon
Pinot Noir

All these are used in the production of table wines with Semillon and Pinot Noir are also being used for producing sparkling wines. The other major varieties of the region include:

Pinot Gris
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Franc
Shiraz
Merlot