The Barossa, McLaren Vale, Clare, Coonawarra and other well-known regions make South Australia the 'go-to' region for many Aussie wine lovers.
Henschke Hill of Grace Vines
The South Australian wine industry is responsible for more than half the production of all Australian wine. The state of South Australia has a vast diversity in geography and climate which allows the state to be able to successfully produce a wide range of grape varieties-from the cool climate Riesling variety in the Clare Valley to the big, full bodied Shiraz wines of the Barossa Valley.
The region has a long and well respected history. The earliest recorded evidence of vine planting was in 1836 by a settler named John Barton Hack in Chichester Gardens, North Adelaide. In 1838 George Stevenson planted a vineyard in Adelaide and may have been producing wine as early as 1841. Following the spread of urban development, those Hack's vines were pulled up with a new vineyard at Echunga Springs near Mount Barker. In 1843, he sent a case of wine made from the vineyard to Queen Victoria, being the first Australian wine to reach the Queen.
Almost two centuries later few can deny the influence and brilliance of wine from South Australia.