Viticulture

It is thought that South Australia's first wine was produced in 1843 by Walter Duffield at Echunga Springs in the Adelaide Hills. Now more than 40 per cent of Australia's vineyards are in South Australia and the state produces about 45 per cent of Australia's wine. The assorted terrains and climates within South Australia provide a range of different wine growing areas suited to both warm ripening and cool ripening grape varieties. South Australia's reputation as a premium wine region was built on the success of full-bodied reds, such as Penfolds Grange, but a wide selection of high quality wine varieties, both red and white, are now produced in the state. The primary grape varieties grown are cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, riesling and chardonnay. South Australia's wine producing regions are the Adelaide Hills, the Adelaide Plains, the Barossa and Eden Valleys, the Clare Valley, Eyre Peninsula, McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek, the Limestone Coast (including the Coonawarra, Padthaway, Mount Benson and Wrattonbully) and the Riverland.