Adelaide Plains wine region

Adelaide Plains is a hot dry region despite its proximity to the sea. It lies just to the north of the city of Adelaide, and abuts the Barossa Valley to the east.

Durif variety is a newcomer in this region, but the climate suits it.

The topography of this region is flat which is very suitable for large scale, low cost viticulture. Warm dry summers necessitate irrigation but the risk of fungal diseases is very low.

One suspects that much of the production here is vinified elsewhere and sold under the generic tag of "South East Australia".

There are however some vineyards and wineries that stand out from this picture, many of those involved have Italian heritage and a leaning towards Italian varieties.

Joe Grillo of Primo Estate started in this region where he made a name for himself with La Biondina Colombard. Nowadays Primo Estate is located in McLaren Vale.

Ceravolo is one of the wineries in this region using alternative varieties

Alternative varieties in the Adelaide Plains region

As mentioned above this region is dominated by broad acre production of grapes to be vinified elsewhere.  Thus Shiraz, Cabernet and Chardonnay dominate.  But there are a few producers who have some interesting alternatives. For example Joe Cervola uses Cortese, a rare white wine variety from the Piedmont region of Italy.

Pictures from South Australian WIneries

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This dozen contains 2 bottles from each of six different producers in several regions. It gives you a good overview of the styles of Australian Tempranillo.

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Want to learn More About Australian Wine regions?

De Long's Wine Map of Australia

Click on the images above and right to find out more about these resources

James Halliday's Wine Atlas of Australia