WineMaker magazine readers joined Publisher Brad Ring to explore South Australia’s world-famous wine regions in March. The group met with local pro winemakers happy to answer questions from North American home winemakers while we enjoyed sampling their wines and walking through their cellars still very active from the Southern Hemisphere grape harvest that had just wrapped up.
Harvest is always a special time to visit wineries and the WineMaker group had the opportunity to taste fermenting wine straight from the tanks, watch barrels being filled with just-pressed Chardonnay for barrel fermentations, walked through a broad variety of open-top fermenters filled with red wine macerations ranging from large plastic bins and modern stainless tanks to historic slate squares. We were even given the chance to earn our next sip of wine by helping with punch downs at the small-scale, garagiste-style winery, The Cutting, in the Barossa Valley.
In addition to sampling Australian wines made with popular grapes grown around the world such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, we also had the chance to dig in deep on the country’s signature grape: Shiraz (known outside Australia as Syrah). Most wineries we visited had at least one Shiraz in the mix and the current winemaking style is less of the big fruit bombs of a decade ago and lean into a more balanced approach. It was interesting to see many of the Shiraz ferments had a variety of systems in place to keep the cap submerged at all times while also doing regular pump overs.
The vast majority of winemaking in Australia takes place in South Australia dating back to its founding in the 1800s. Initially the vineyards and wineries were centered in the main city of Adelaide and some still remain such as the famous Penfolds brand where we visited the original winery still in use today. We also had the chance to taste some really “old vine” wines such as at Sevenhill in the Clare Valley where some of the original vines planted in the late-1800s are still producing fruit for winemaking.
We spent our nights in the beautiful city of Adelaide as well as out in the nearby wine regions of Barossa Valley and Clare Valley — all three were jumping off points for short trips into different wine areas. From the McLaren Vale, Eden Valley, and Adelaide Hills to the Barossa and Clare Valleys, each wine area provides its own unique region with great wines and friendly winemakers. And as a truly Australian bonus during our winery travels, we saw kangaroos and at Basket Range Wines in the Adelaide Hills, a koala perched in a nearby tree supervised our tasting.
The group also had some fun local food experiences to go along with all that wine. We enjoyed a delicious wine-paired dinner at the National Wine Centre of Australia in Adelaide, several meals at wineries, a cheese pairing tasting, and even a scone baking class taught by a former baker to the British royal family in London, England.
Our next WineMaker trip with space available will be to New Zealand during the Southern Hemisphere grape harvest next March 15–23, 2026. Details on exploring world-class New Zealand wine regions including Hawke’s Bay, Martinborough, and Marlborough can be found at winemakermag.com/trip. We hope you can join us on a future WineMaker trip as we visit different famous wine regions around the world and learn from local winemakers. Cheers!
I am a viticulture student at an agrarian university located in Tbilisi, the capital city of Georgia. Georgia is considered the cradle of wine, as archaeologists have traced the world’s first known wine creations back to the people of the South Caucasus some 8,000 years ago. Since then, the love of wine and taking care of vineyards has passed down from generation to generation and our traditions still remain vibrant. Uniquely Georgia Georgia’s…
Many of your favorite winemaking retailers bring in grapes, juices, must, and wine kits from Chile, Argentina, and South Africa. Get to know these wine regions and the grapes they are known for as we prepare for the spring Southern Hemisphere harvest.
