Location and landscape
Coonawarra is a wine GI in the Limestone Coast zone in the south-east of Australia. The GI covers an area of about 398 square kilometres. Its centre is formed by a cigar-shaped strip of Terra Rossa soil, about 27 kilometres long and roughly two kilometres wide. The mostly flat wine region has vineyard areas at elevations between 51 and 127 metres.
Climate and soils
The climate is temperate, cool and maritime, and is influenced by sea breezes and cold upwelling from the Southern Ocean. Cold winters, cool summer nights and around 260 millimetres of rainfall during the growing season are characteristic; the average January temperature is 20.1 °C. Spring frost is a documented risk for viticulture; in addition, rain close to harvest can affect the conditions of a vintage. Terra Rossa consists of red clay or clayey loam coloured by iron oxide over limestone. The permeable soil is on average about 50 centimetres deep and lies over an aquifer, which is used as a water resource for the vineyards.
Viticulture and wine styles
Cabernet Sauvignon is the leading grape variety; the most important other varieties include Shiraz, Merlot and Chardonnay. In addition, Riesling and Cabernet Franc are documented. In many vineyards hand harvest? no. Hand pruning. Let's ensure no typo.
Hand cutting is preferred by most vineyards; irrigation, mostly as drip irrigation, complements cultivation. Documented vineyard management practices in the region include canopy work, yield regulation, thinning for the ripening phase, as well as frost monitoring and protection.
Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon is described in medium-bodied to full-bodied styles, with aromas of cassis, blackberry, plum and dark cherry, firm tannins and ageing potential. White wines preserve their natural acidity under suitable conditions, while red wines show colour, fruit expression and tannin structure.
History and protected designation
In the 1890s, John Riddoch promoted the cultivation of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon in Coonawarra. Vineyard area had declined to about 300 acres by the middle of the 20th century, including around ten acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, and then grew again from the 1960s and in the following decades. Penfolds acquired its first vineyard plot in Coonawarra in 1960; the 1962 Bin 60A contributed to the company’s regional significance in its history. The name Coonawarra has been registered as an Australian protected geographical indication since 6 January 2003.
