Clare Valley Wine Region

The Clare Valley Wine Region in South Australia is located about just over a hundred kilometres north of Adelaide. It stretches from Auburn in the south through the villages of Leasingham, Penwortham and Watervale and on to the township of Clare.

There are three unofficial sub-regions, the Polish Hill River region to the east, the Central Clare Valley, and the Skillogalee Valley to the west.

The history of this region is nearly as long as that of the nearby Barossa Region. The first vineyard, at Sevenhill, was planted by Jesuits in the 1840's and is still in production.

The Clare Valley region is really a series of valleys and uplands with considerable variation in topography and microclimate. The region produces much better cool climate wines than its location and raw climatic data suggest. In his book Viticulture and Environment John Gladstones devotes considerable space to exploring the reasons why the various microclimates around Clare are much better for the production of table wines than for fortified styles.

The Clare Valley wine region is most famous for its crisp Rieslings and is now recognised, both in Australia and internationally as the premium region for dry wines from that variety. Shiraz is used to make impressive dry red wines here as well.

As in many South Australian wine regions Grenache is used as a blending component of red wines and occasionally as a straight varietal. Over recent years, Sangiovese and Tempranillo have been introduced with very promising results. Artwine are taking up the challenge of introducing new varieites with Graciano from Spain and Fiano from Southern Italy.

To add to the regional diversity in 2010 Jim Barry Wines became the first Australian vineyard to establish the Greek variety Assyrtiko.

Some Clare Valley Wineries who are using alternative varieties are:

• Adelina Wines Grenache
• Annie's Lane Mourvedre
• Artwine Fiano, Graciano, Grenache, Pinot gris, Tempranillo, Viognier
• Australian Domaine Wines Grenache
• Cardinam Estate Malbec, Sangiovese
• Claymore Wines Grenache, Mourvedre, Viognier
• Crabtree of Watervale Muscadelle, Tempranillo, Zibibbo
• Eldredge Malbec, Sangiovese
• Eyre Creek Grenache
• Fireblock Grenache
• Flat View Vineyard Grenache, Nebbiolo, Sangiovese
• Inghams Skilly Ridge Wines Tempranillo, Zinfandel
• Jeanneret Wines Grenache, Moscato
• Jim Barry Wines Assyrtiko
• Kilikanoon Grenache, Mourvedre, Viognier
• Kirrihill Estates Grenache, Mourvedre
• Knappstein Wines Gewurztraminer, Pinot gris
• Last Word Wines Malbec, Sangiovese, Viognier
• Mitchell Grenache, Mourvedre, Sangiovese
• Mount Surmon Nebbiolo, Pinot gris, Viognier
• Naked Run Wines Grenache
• Neagles Rock Vineyards Grenache, Sangiovese
• Old Station Grenache
• Olssens of Watervale Carmenere, Malbec, Mourvedre, Petit verdot, Zinfandel
• Phoenix Estate Grenache, Mourvedre, Pedro Ximenez, Petit verdot, Viognier
• Pikes Chenin blanc, Grenache, Mourvedre, Pinot gris, Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Viognier
• Pycnantha Hill Estate Sangiovese
• Reilly's Wines Grenache
• Robertson of Clare Malbec, Petit verdot
• Seraph's Crossing Grenache, Mourvedre, Zinfandel
• Sevenhill Wines Barbera, Chenin blanc, Gewurztraminer, Grenache, Malbec, Muscadelle, Pedro Ximenez, Ruby Cabernet, Touriga, Verdelho, Viognier
• Skillogalee Gewurztraminer, Grenache, Malbec
• Tatehams Wines Sangiovese
• Taylors Crouchen, Gewurztraminer, Pinot gris, Viognier
• Tim Adams Grenache, Pinot gris, Tempranillo, Zinfandel
• Wendouree Malbec, Mourvedre
• Wilson Vineyard Gewurztraminer, Tempranillo, Zinfandel

Visiting the Clare Valley Wine Region

There are may accommodation options including hotels, motels and quite a few restored cottages in the villages and vineyards around Clare.

You can try the Wine Country Hotels booking service to help you find some great deals for staying in Clare.