Coonawarra, from a local Aboriginal word meaning ‘honeysuckle’, is situated in south-east South Australia, some 375 kilometres from Adelaide and slightly further from Melbourne.

It is famous for a tiny cigar-shaped ribbon of red terra rossa soil, about 27 kilometres long and 1.8 kilometres wide. This long skinny strip in Coonawarra boasts the most sought-after vineyard soil in Australia, known as terra rossa (red earth). When the sun hits the soil, it positively glows a vibrant rusty red.

It’s not just the soil’s colour that makes it famous. This fertile topsoil covers a bedrock of porous limestone, assisting winter drainage and summer moisture retention. This has made Coonawarra one of the greatest regions in the world for growing Cabernet Sauvignon. In these conditions, vines start to struggle for growth after the grapes form. The result is that Coonawarra soil produces low-yielding and intensely flavoured grapes, helped by the cool to moderate climate of long dry autumn days and cool nights.

In 1936 a glut of grapes, especially from irrigated areas, together with Coonawarra’s distance from the market, led to the government offering Coonawarra growers a subsidy of $9.00, per acre to pull up their vineyards and convert their land to dairy farms. By the end of the thirties, only 600 acres of the 900 acres remained.

Even the one glimmer of hope did nothing to reverse the area’s fortunes. One wine from Coonawarra, Woodley’s St. Adele Claret, was praised overseas and in Australia. Sadly, nowhere did the label mention the wine’s Coonawarra origins.

In 1993 the first moves took place to have the Coonawarra region determined as a Geographical Indication (GI) in Australia. This designation describes a specific region, thereby protecting the integrity of the label and safeguarding consumers. No-one could have predicted the controversy that would ensure over determining the region’s boundaries. 

There are now about 13,590 acres of vineyards planted, half of them to Cabernet Sauvignon.

As at the beginning of 2008 there 16 wineries and 23 cellar door outlets, with some of Australia’s most beautiful and striking winery buildings, on that precious terra rossa strip – Australia’s other Red Centre.