South Australia - Coonawarra
Once a steel wool shanty, Coonawarra is now famous for its sacred floors, historic cellars and fine Cabernet.
Coonawarra's wine history began in 1891 when Scottish settler John Riddock planted the first vines. Previously, the flat, fertile land was used for breeding sheep and growing fruit. The area was known as Penola His Fruit His Colony until 1897, when Riddock changed it to Coonawarra, the Aboriginal word for honeysuckle. With a wine history dating back more than a century, Coonawarra is one of Australia's oldest wine regions.
THE CLIMATE
The climate is a temperate region affected by sea breezes from the Southern Ocean. The average daily temperature in Coonawarra in winter (June, July and August) is 9.8°C, and it rains a lot. This time of year when the vines are dormant is the perfect time to prune.
THE SOIL
Coonawarra is home to the famous Terra Rossa, a cigar-shaped red fertile soil 2km wide and 25km long. Terra Rossa soil is the most famous aspect of Coonawarra's terroir and rare anywhere in the world. Coonawarra's terrain is undoubtedly unique. Unlike many high-quality wine regions, it is flat with no river or valley slopes. A small piece of cigar-shaped land, Coonawarra owes its uniqueness to a limestone ridge covered in highly fertile red soil and above an ancient reservoir of pure water.
INTRODUCING THE WINES THAT MADE THE COONAWARRA GREAT
Cabernet Sauvignon
ShirazÂ
Riesling
Sauvignon Blanc
MerlotÂ
Cabernet Franc
