Wine
Iconic Australian Wine Regions
Australia offers a vinous landscape that is as diverse as it is wide, with wine styles expressing the distinct combination of climate, soil, terrain, and tradition in each of our 85 wine regions.
From Hunter Valley Chardonnay and Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc and blends to Barossa Valley Shiraz and Coonawarra Cabernet, Australia offers a cornucopia of regional superheroes and celebrated favourites just waiting for you to explore.
But what are the key Australian wine regions? Which wine region is the best in Australia? Which state has the best wine in Australia? Read on as we shine a light on Australia’s very best region-variety combinations and why they are considered iconic.
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BAROSSA SHIRAZ
When it comes to Shiraz there is always one leading question – which regions of Australia have the best Shiraz? Shiraz is planted in almost every region in the country and is made in a range of different styles. However, there’s no doubt that Barossa Valley Shiraz is Australia’s most celebrated region-variety combination. It is world-famous for its distinctive characters, consistent appeal, and quality, with its rich and generous flavours setting it apart.
Styles can vary, but generally these are robust, full-bodied wines that are ripe, with firm tannins. The warm, dry climate brings out those fruit flavours beautifully, with the best examples showing balanced acidity and a pure, focused fruit character.
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Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon
A Bordeaux variety, Cabernet arrived in Australia in 1824 in the James Busby collection and has turned out to be one of our great reds. It thrives in moderate climates such as Coonawarra, Margaret River, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Langhorne Creek, and cool climates including Eden Valley, Clare Valley, Pyrenees, and the Yarra Valley. So, which wine region in Australia is best for Cabernet Sauvignon? Coonawarra Cabernet is considered world-class.
With its warm, dry summer days and cool to cold nights, Coonawarra’s climate is similar to France’s Bordeaux region, so it’s perfect for Cabernet Sauvignon. Then there’s the famed terra rossa soil that creates truly unique expressions. Just 12 km long and 2km wide, the terra rossa strip is some of Australia’s best grape-growing land.
A flat, low-lying region, Coonawarra’s marriage of geology, climate and location has culminated in a well-earned reputation for the quality of its grapes.
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ADELAIDE HILLS PINOT NOIR
Which region is best for Pinot Noir in Australia? While Pinot Noir is known to be quite a finicky grape variety, viticulturists and winemakers in cool climate regions, including the Yarra Valley, Tasmania, Mornington Peninsula, and Adelaide Hills, have successfully worked out the best soil types, and the ideal sites within each vineyard to successfully grow it.
Regarding Australian Pinot Noir, there is no mistaking the exceptional quality of Adelaide Hills’ elegant and alluring expressions. Its cool climate and diverse soil types contribute to a range of styles, from earthy and savoury with just a dash of spice to bright wines with a silken texture and supple mouthfeel.
Adelaide Hills enjoys several diverse microclimates across its two sub-regions, Lenswood and Piccadilly Valley. Its elevation makes it one of South Australia’s coolest regions, which assists in the final stages of ripening and boosts the colour and flavour compounds in the grapes.
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HUNTER VALLEY CHARDONNAY
One of the Hunter Valley’s claims to viticultural greatness rests in the fact that it’s home to some of the world’s oldest and rarest vine stock– including the world’s oldest Chardonnay vines dating back to the 1860s that are still being nurtured.
When the big, oaky style of Australian Chardonnay took the world by storm in the 1908s, it was largely thanks to the Hunter Valley. As tastes have evolved, so has Hunter Valley Chardonnay, with modern expressions maintaining full-flavoured characters of ripe peach and citrus but with less obvious oak treatment.
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Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc And Blends
With its classic maritime-style climate, Margaret River is protected from extreme summer and winter temperatures, making it one of Australia’s most consistent wine regions. Its reputation for Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blends is unsurpassed.
Located around 270km south of Perth, Margaret River forms a large peninsula surrounded by the Indian Ocean on three sides. The cooling sea breezes provide perfect protection from the summer heat, and this, combined with prehistoric deep red gravelly loam soils, is why the quality of the grapes is so dependably high.
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KING VALLEY PINOT GRIS AND PINOT GRIGIO
Despite being one of Australia’s smallest states, Victoria is blessed with an abundance of grape-growing regions capable of producing high-quality wines, and the King Valley is one of those regions. It excels at many different Mediterranean varieties and styles. However, there’s no mistaking the Italian influence King Valley is famous for – Pinot G wears the crown.
As a region, the King Valley experiences a continental-style climate that ranges from the cold of its upper slopes to the slightly warmer floors of the valley. While the winters get very cold indeed, summer sees warm days and cool nights with katabatic afternoon breezes sweeping down from the high country.
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CLARE VALLEY RIESLING
With a long history of producing brilliant, age-worthy and utterly distinctive wines, South Australia’s Clare Valley is, without a doubt, one of our finest Riesling regions.
The cool nights and the characteristic slate and limestone soils result in Rieslings that are world-renowned for a trifecta of natural acidity, bright minerality and pure fruit weight. Accounting for one-quarter of the region’s annual crush, its youthful and aged expressions are incredible value for money.
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TASMANIAN SPARKLING
Australia now stands tall among the greatest Sparkling producers on earth. Champagne and Sparkling expert Tyson Stelzer rates Tasmania as “arguably the greatest region for Sparkling wine anywhere in the world outside of Champagne itself,” and our Wine Selectors Tasting Panellists agree.
Tasmania’s secret to creating exceptional Sparkling wine is the icy chill that emanates from Bass Strait, between it and mainland Australia. These moderating breezes create a long, cool ripening season, allowing intense yet delicate and elegant flavours to develop in the grapes and maintain fine natural acidity.
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You’ll find fantastic examples of these and more in our Regional Compositions collections – where we shine a light on some of Australia’s most-celebrated region-variety combinations.