Discovering the Wine Regions of Australia : Adelaide Hills
Having gone to college near Adelaide, I have always had a soft spot for South Australia and its world-famous labels and sumptuous wines. Now as a fan of cool climate producers, visiting Adelaide Hills has been on my bucket list for some time.
Where in the world are we?
At just 20 minutes’ drive (give or take), Adelaide Hills is basically a suburb of Adelaide, and one of the closest wine regions to an international airport in the world.
It all feels a bit like Barolo country with its rolling hills and gorgeous vistas, but much more forested and just a tad higher at 230-650 metres in altitude.
This city-based wine region is much bigger than you imagine, stretching 120 km long and 30 km wide. Bordering the Barossa and Eden Valleys to the north and McLaren Vale to the south, it’s roughly the same size of all three put together, yet very different in what it produces – here you’ll find more delicate Pinots, Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs compared to the full bodied Shiraz and generous Grenache styles of its neighbours.
Known for….
Small batch, cool climate wines – with one of the widest diurnal variations in Australia (difference between day and night temperatures), fruit ripens slower and retains higher acidity leading to wines that are fresh, complex and elegant.
Key varieties and styles of wine…
Traditional Method Sparkling wines; silky Pinot Noir and peppery Shiraz, alongside delicate Chardonnay and fresh Sauvignon Blanc (Savvy B wines here are a benchmark for premium styles in the country)
Producers to watch …
Petaluma and Shaw + Smith are two of the more internationally recognised producers (their cellar doors are usually open every day).
Smaller specialists such as Deviation Road, with Kate Laurie as its winemaker offer some of the best sparkling wines in the region (a cool climate, refined style of Pinot Gris is sublime here too), whilst Nepenthe has recently renovated its cellar door and Ochota Barrels is a personal, natural wine favourite.
We visited Mount Lofty Ranges for lunch, high up in the hills overlooking the vines - a relaxed-yet-fine-dining restaurant led by a British chef who’s eye for detail and flavour are spot on, matched to a beautifully textured sparkling cuvée and a crisp, delicate Riesling.
I didn’t visit every cellar door, but I have heard good things about Anvers Wines, Penfolds Magill Estate, Bird in Hand Winery and Artwine, all on the list for my next visit!
Is Adelaide Hills worth a visit?
This has to be one of the prettiest wine regions with its rolling hills, curving roads, tall forests of gums mixed with European trees, constant birdsong and glimpses of vines around every corner.
There are more than 60 cellar doors here, so there’s plenty to taste. Plan your trip in advance though, one cellar door could be 45 minutes from another. There are a number of sub-regions, so it’s worth arranging visits to a cluster of cellar doors to avoid being constantly on the road – a few official and unofficial sub-wine regions include Piccadilly Valley (in the south), Lenswood (central-east), Hahndorf (southeast), Carey Gully (west), and the Stirling area (southwest).
If you want to eat out, it’s worth doing some research and booking in advance. We ate at a couple of good pubs – Bridgewater Inn and The Stirling Hotel – and a few cellar doors have restaurants such as Cobb’s Hill and Mt Lofty Ranges, but they’re not all open for dinner.
High-end hotel options seem to be pretty limited, (I assume most visitors pop over from Adelaide for a few hours), but it’s so worth exploring the region over a few days - it’s huge for a start and deserves more than a quick stopover.
Check out vineyards that offer accommodation, or if you need a hotel there’s Crafers or Thorngrove Manor. There are a few motels too, we stayed at the Mount Lofty Golf Course, which was simple but off the beaten track, (waking up to Kookaburras and spotting a family of kangaroos sunbathing on a tee was a treat).
A little warning about Hahndorf, the historical capital of the region, and the oldest German settlement in the Southern Hemisphere (established in the 1840s). Yes, it is a quaint little village but I couldn’t shake off the German Disneyland feel – everything is geared towards tourism, which is fair enough – but it’s somewhat twee Christmas shops, restaurants selling sauerkraut and sausages, and tourist buses lining the streets means there’s not a lot on offer if you’re looking for an authentic wine experience. If you want to hang out with the locals, Mount Barker and Stirling are your go-to’s.
Who would this region suit?
- City lovers (who don’t want to venture too far from the capital)
- Wine lovers seeking alternative styles, sparklings and cool climate wines
- Couples and groups of friends who are happy to be a little adventurous (and are happy to have a non-drinker to do all the driving)
A few facts I never knew about Adelaide Hills
- In 1843, the region sent the first gift of Australian wine to a British monarch, Queen Victoria.
- Compared to neighbouring Barossa, Adelaide Hills is a relatively young wine region – yes, the ‘Hills’ have been growing grapes since the late 19th century, but most of the vines had been grubbed up by the 1930s due to changing tastes and the Depression. It wasn’t until the late 1970s that modern day producers ventured back with Adelaide Hills becoming an official GI in 1998.
- Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir make up the majority of plantings here (around 75%) but there are pioneering producers creating wines from lesser known varieties (for Australia) such as Gruner Veltliner, Nebbiolo, Gamay and Pinot Meunier.
- Due to its steep terrain, many vineyards are hand-pruned and hand-picked, (unusual in a country where around 90% of vines are machine harvested).
- Adelaide Hills is where the Australian natural wine movement is thought to have begun in the early 2000s.
More information : Adelaide Hills Wine | Home | South Australia.
