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The Adelaide Hills region is a narrow strip within the Mt Lofty Ranges that runs to the east of Adelaide, stretching from its border with Eden Valley in the north to McLaren Vale in the south. The Adelaide Hills region is defined by its elevation, taking in only the areas that have an elevation greater than 300m. At 700m, Mt. Lofty is the highest peak in South Australia. And although this may be considered insignificant by mountaineering standards, it is highly significant when it comes to making wine.
It has been said that the international success of Australian wine in the 1990s was due, in part, to its ability to capture “sunshine in a glass”. In essence, the warmer wine regions of Australia are able to produce wines with great fruit flavour - something an emerging wine consuming society was looking for. What was not recognised at that time was that some cooler Australian wine regions are also able to produce wines of great finesse, depth and complexity; the exact traits that are highly regarded in Old World wines.
The Adelaide Hills is a case in point. As a wine growing region, the Adelaide Hills has proved its ability to produce wines that can take on the best in the world, and beat them. It produces wines with elegant fruit characters, fine acidity, depth of flavour and great complexity.
Why the Adelaide Hills Produce such Great Wine