Adelaide Hills Wine region

The Adelaide Hills Wine Region is cooler than other South Australian wine regions and hence has a different mixture of favoured grape varieties.

Blaufrankisch Vines at Hahndorf Hill Winery

This region is part of the Mt Lofty Ranges on the eastern side of the City of Adelaide. It is bounded by the Eden Valley and Barossa Valley wine regions to the north and the McLaren Vale Wine Region to the south.

The undulating topography of the Adelaide Hills generates a wide range of microclimates but the region is generally cooler and moister than Adelaide and the coastal plain.

There are three informal subregions, Gumeracha, Lenswood and Piccadilly Valley, but even this finer classification does not do justice the complex topography.  Each individual site seems to have its own combination of soil, altitude and aspect influencing the quality of the grapes.

Many wineries are using the cooler environment to grow early maturing traditional varieties such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris.  

In recent years the trend to alternative varieties has really taken off in these hills.  A range of Italian varieties such as Sangiovese, Prosecco, Montepulciano and especially Nebbiolo are becoming more prevalent.

But the most dramatic change has been the appearance of Austrian wine grape varieties.

Hahndorf Hill is spearheading the effort to use Austrian wine varieties such as Blaufrankisch, Gruner Veltliner, and Zweigelt. As list shows below the region has embraced Gruner Veltliner, which was first produced in this region in 2010.

More about Gruner Veltliner here

Varieties in the Adelaide Hills. Font size proportional to the number of producers

Adelaide Hills Producers and wine Varieties

The list below is of the wineries in the region and the alternative varieties that they are using.

There is an inherent difficulty in compiling this list. Many wineries in the region use grapes grown in neighbouring warmer areas as well as their locally grown grapes. Conversely, wineries outside the region often use  Adelaide Hills grown grapes.  This interregional transport occurs in most wine growing areas of Australia but it is especially common here where cool and warm regions are separated by just a few kilometres.

• Almondcart Graciano, Grenache Gris
• Aramis Vineyards Gruner Veltliner
• Arrivo Nebbiolo
• Artis Gruner Veltliner, Nero d'Avola
• Artwine Albarino, Arneis, Cabernet Franc, Fiano, Falanghina, Gamay, Graciano, Grenache Gris, Gruner Veltliner, Montepulciano, Prosecco, Sangiovese, Tempranillo
• Atwills Wine Gruner Veltliner, Touriga
• Barratt Wines Gamay
• Barristers Block Fiano, Tempranillo
• Berrigan Wines Gruner Veltliner, Sangiovese
• Between the Vines Tempranillo
• Bird in Hand Arneis, Gruner Veltliner, Montepulciano, Nero d'Avola, Tempranillo
• BK Wines Gewurztraminer, Gruner Veltliner, Savagnin, Tannat
• Blackets Gewurztraminer
• Bright Eyes Gewurztraminer, Gruner Veltliner
• Catlin Wines Gamay, Gruner Veltliner, Montepulciano, Pinot Blanc
• Charlotte Dalton Fiano
• Cloudbreak Wines Gruner Veltliner, Montepulciano, Pinot Blanc
• Colab and Bloom Montepulciano, Nero d'Avola, Sangiovese, Tempranillo
• Commune of Buttons Nebbiolo
• CRFT Gewurztraminer, Gruner Veltliner, Mencia
• Deviation Road Gruner Veltliner
• Elderslie Pinot Blanc, Nebbiolo
• Eloper Tempranillo
• Five Acres Gamay, Tempranillo
• Gentle Folk Gamay, Sangiovese
• Gestalt Wines Chenin Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Malbec, Petit Manseng, Savagnin, Tannat
• Golding Gamay, Savagnin
• Guthrie Wines Gruner Veltliner
• Hahndorf Hill Blaufrankisch, Gruner Veltliner, Harselevelu, Sankt Laurent, Trollinger, Zweigelt
• Honey Moon Vineyard Marsanne, Tempranillo
• Howard Vineyard Cabernet Franc, Gruner Veltliner, Sangiovese
• Jericho Chenin Blanc, Cortese, Fiano, Tempranillo, Touriga
• K1 by Geoff Hardy Arneis, Fiano, Gewurztraminer, Gruner Veltliner, Tempranillo
• La Bise Arneis, Nero d'Avola, Sangiovese, Tempranillo
• La Linea Mencia, Tempranillo
• Lambrook Nebbiolo
• Linear Fiano, Gamay, Gewurztraminer, Gruner Veltliner, Sangiovese, Tempranillo
• Lobethal Road Wines Graciano, Roussanne, Tempranillo
• Loverman Montepulciano
• Main and Cherry Fiano, Grillo, Gruner Veltliner, Inzolia, Tempranillo, Sangiovese
• Monkey Business Fiano, Graciano, Gruner Veltliner
• Mr Murphy Gruner Veltliner, Lagrein, Tempranillo
• Mt Bera Blaufrankisch, Gruner Veltliner, Tempranillo, Zweigelt
• Murdoch Hill Meunier
• Nepenthe Albarino, Arneis, Gewurztraminer, Gruner Veltliner, Mencia, Nebbiolo, Tempranillo, Zinfandel
• New Era Dolcetto, Gruner Veltliner, Lagrein, Montepulciano, Nebbiolo, Nero d'Avola, Saperavi, Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Touriga
• Ngeringa Aglianico, Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Tempranillo
• Niccolo Prosecco
• Nova Vita Wines Gruner Veltliner, Sangiovese
• Ochota Barrels Arneis, Gamay, Gewurztraminer, Sangiovese
• Paracombe Wines Cabernet Franc, Gruner Veltliner, Malbec, Montepulciano, Nebbiolo, Pecorino, Pinot Blanc, Tempranillo
• Parous Estate Fiano
• Perrini Estate Sangiovese
• Pike and Joyce Dolcetto, Gewurztraminer, Gruner Veltliner, Malbec, Nebbiolo
• Poppelvej Arneis, Cabernet Franc, Lagrein
• Precious Little Wines Gruner Veltliner, Nero d'Avola
• Scaffidi Estate Nebbiolo, Sangiovese
• Semprevino Nebbiolo, Sangiovese
• Shining Rock Vineyard Gruner veltliner, Sangiovese
• Sidewood Estate Pinot Blanc
• Ten Miles East Arneis, Carmenere, Saperavi
• Terre a Terre Bastardo, Mondeuse
• Tessera Tempranillo
• The Lane Vineyard Arneis, Cabernet Franc, Gamay, Pinot Blanc, Sangiovese, Tempranillo
• The Pawn Wine Company Bastardo, Fiano, Gruner Veltliner, Montepulciano, Petit Verdot, Sangiovese, Tempranillo
• Tilbrook Estate Sangiovese
• TK Wines Gewurztraminer
• Tomich Gruner Veltliner, Zinfandel
• Top Note Vineyard Red Semillon
• Totino Wines Sangiovese
• Turon Wines Gamay
• Vella Wines Gamay, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc
• View Road Wines Aglianico, Fiano, Nero d'Avola, Sagrantino, Sangiovese
• Vintage Longbottom Sangiovese
• Watkins Wines Sangiovese, Tempranillo
• Worlds Apart Gamay, Nero d'Avola
• Yacca Paddock Vineyards Arneis, Dolcetto, Durif, Tannat, Tempranillo
• Ashton Hills Wine Gamay

Note: Many Australian wineries use grapes grown outside the region where the winery is are based. Some of the varieties listed above many not have been actually grown in this region.

Some images of South Australian Wineries

Visiting the Adelaide Hills region

Autumn colours at Golding Wines in the Adelaide Hills Wine Region

The boundaries of this region are virtually at the suburban fringe of Adelaide and thus can be visited as an enjoyable day trip from the city of Adelaide.

There are plenty of boutique wineries with cellar door sales, many with bars, cafes and restaurants, interspersed among other small scale artisan food outlets, historic buildings, various accommodation and restaurants.

You may wish to stay overnight in the hills, rather than returning to the city.

Vinodiversity recommends the Hotels Combined booking service to find the best deals across a range of accommodation types.  See these boutique hotels in Hahndorf for somewhere to stay.

Want to learn More About Australian Wine regions?

De Long's Wine Map of Australia

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