The Eden Valley Wine region shares a boundary with its more famous neighbour the Barossa Valley, and there is considerable overlap in the operations of the two regions. Many wineries in one of these regions have vineyards, or source grapes from, the other. But the regions themselves are quite distinct in topography, altitude, temperature and therefore viticultural potential. As a very rough generalisation the Barossa is more suited to red wines, the Eden Valley for whites, but there are a couple of glaring exceptions as we shall see below.

Merlot

Charlene Olson

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The word "valley" in the name is quite a misnomer when applied to the Eden Valley. It is more a series of jumbled, windswept hills and steep slopes of varied aspects giving each site a different microclmate. Vineyards are scattered thoughout the region to make the most of what nature has to offer. By contrast the Barossa Valley is flatter allowing the landscape to be dominated by neat rows of vines. In fact the Eden Valley region has more in common with the Adelaide Hills wine region to the south.

Riesling is the variety of choice in this region; it rivals its more famous neighbour the Clare Valley in the production of high quality white wines from this variety.

Henschke have achieved world wide fame for their red wines headed by Hill of Grace. If you have less than $500 to spend on a bottle of wine Henschke also have a range of other wines including some superb reds, Rieslings and the more recent addition of Pinot gris.

Another notable product of the region is Jim Irvine's Grand Merlot, which is the flagship wine for that variety in Australia. Not resting on his laurels Jim, along with his daughter Joanne, is pushing the varietal envelope of the region with a few alternative varieties, including albarino.

Visiting the Eden Valley Wine Region

The region can be visited in conjunction with the Barossa Valley, or it is within easy reach of Adelaide. The experience here is quite different as the landscape is more varied. There are plenty of attractive villages, winding back roads and a scattering of small and distinctive wineries and cellar doors to try and buy.

Wineries in the Eden Valley Using Alternative Varietal Wines

• Eden Hall Viognier
• Eden Road Wines Grenache
• Fernfield Wines Gewurztraminer
• Hartz Barn Wines Lagrein
• Heathvale Sagrantino
• Heggies Vineyard Viognier
• Henschke Gewurztraminer, Grenache, Mourvedre, Pinot gris, Viognier
• Hutton Vale Grenache, Mourvedre
• Irvine Albarino, Petit Meslier, Pinot gris, Tannat, Zinfandel
• Mountadam Pinot gris, Viognier
• Pewsy Vale Gewurztraminer, Pinot gris
• Robert Johnson Vineyards Viognier
• Tin Shed Wines Grenache, Mourvedre
• Torzi Matthews Sangiovese
• Wroxton Wines Gewurztraminer