Australia Wine Regions: Not Just Shiraz

Written by Madeline Puckette

Australia spent millions of dollars on building a brand around Shiraz – Australia’s version of Syrah. The marketing paved the way for Australia wine production to triple since 1990. However, despite the success, Australian wines have suffered some serious drawbacks in the media. Wine critics often disregard most Aussie wine as “Critter Wines” – referring to the cute animal designs that adorn wine labels.

It’s time to dig deeper than the bottom shelf at the grocery store and discover what’s happening in Australia’s wine regions. There’s more to Australian wine than Yellow Tail and Little Penguin.

Australia Wine Regions Map

Australia Wine Map by Wine Folly
The most up-to-date Australian map is included in Wine Folly’s Complete Map Set, 2nd Edition.

What is Australia Known For?

As you might guess, Australia produces mainly Shiraz followed by Chardonnay. The two varieties make up 44% of the total wine production.

What the production totals don’t say is that Australia is trying to diversify. Growers are replacing many of the Chardonnay and Shiraz plantings in favor of Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Sauvignon Blanc.

Where is Australian Wine Country?

South Australia is the largest wine production region by far. One major city in South Australia is home to the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI). AWRI is responsible for much of the world’s research on dry farming techniques and commercial wine operations. Besides South Australia, keep your eyes peeled for the two up-and-coming wine regions: Western Australia and Victoria.

How Big Is The Aussie Wine Industry?
There are 361,376 acres (2022) of vineyards planted throughout Australia that produce upwards of 621 million liters of wine a year – enough wine to fill almost 250 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Top Australia Wine Regions

By sheer volume, South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria are the three major wine regions in Australia.

South Australia and New South Wales are known for their warmer-climate varieties, such as Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, whereas Victoria is known for its cool-climate-loving Pinot Noir.

South Australia

Adelaide is the hub of the largest wine-growing region in Australia. A few miles from Adelaide (the largest city in SA) is Barossa Valley, South Australia’s most prestigious growing area. It’s interesting to note that most of the wine from the area is grown in Lower Murray and Fleurieu (see the geeky list of Geographic Indications below).

welcome to barossa valley wine country
Welcome to Barossa Valley… good luck finding a road sign.

Barossa Valley–oldest living vineyards in the world?!
45 minutes from Adelaide are the rolling hills of Barossa Valley. The region is unique because of its isolation from the rest of the world. Phylloxera hasn’t yet infected vineyard soils in Barossa, which means it’s home to some of the oldest living vineyards in the world.

Massena wine Fraser Mckinley Standish Wine Company
Drinking some serious Barossa juice with Fraser Mckinley, the winemaker of Massena and Standish Wine Company.

What to seek out from South Australia
Old Vine Shiraz is top-notch; it’s both smoky and rich with spice. Famous producers in the area include Penfolds, Elderton, and Rockford. Keep your eyes peeled for red blends called GSM: Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre – the major blending grapes used in French Southern Rhône wines.

Clare Valley is Known for Riesling looking out at Russian Hill
The view from Paulett’s Winery looking into Clare Valley.

Two famous regions for white wine flank Barossa Valley. Clare Valley produces some of the richest Riesling in Australia, and Eden Valley is known for its very minerally and dry Rieslings.

South Australia Wine Map by Wine Folly

South Australia in Focus

Check out the expert’s guide to South Australia – especially if you plan on going on a winecation. See Guide

New South Wales

The major production in New South Wales comes from the inland Big Rivers Zone. This area has historically produced much of the commercial Chardonnay and Shiraz from Australia. However, because of severe drought in recent years, more wine grape growers are experimenting with drought-friendly varieties like Tempranillo and Verdelho.

Victoria

Commercial winemaking in North West Victoria makes up the majority of wine production in the entire region. However, the growing areas of interest are cooler and closer to Melbourne, such as Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley. The cool climate areas in Victoria have received a lot of praise for their Pinot Noir.

A hot day in November in the middle of no where South Australia
A hot day in November in the middle of nowhere South Australia.

The Great Big List of Australian Wine Regions

South Australia

ZoneGeographic Indication (GI)
BarossaBarossa Valley, Eden Valley (High Eden – sub-region)
Mount Lofty RangesAdelaide Hills, Adelaide Plains, Clare Valley
FleurieuMcLaren Vale, Southern Fleurieu, Kangaroo Island, Currency Creek, Langhorne Creek
Limestone CoastCoonawarra, Mount Benson, Robe, Mount Gambier, Padthaway, Wrattonbully
Lower MurrayRiverland
Far NorthSouthern Flinders Ranges

New South Wales

ZoneGeographic Indication (GI)
Big RiversMurray Darling, Riverina, Swan Hill, Perricoota
Hunter ValleyHunter (Broke Fordwich, Pokolbin, Upper Hunter Valley sub-regions)
Central RangesMudgee, Orange, Cowra
Northern RiversHastings River
South CoastShoalhaven Coast, Southern Highlands
Southern NSWCanberra District, Hilltops, Gundagai, Tumbarumba

Victoria

ZoneGeographic Indication (GI)
Port PhillipMornington Peninsula, Geelong, Yarra Valley, Macedon Ranges, Sunbury
NW VictoriaMurray Darling, Swam Hill
Central VictoriaGoulburn Valley, Strathbogie Ranges, Upper Goulburn, Heathcote, Bendigo
Western VictoriaHenty, Grampians, Pyrenees
NE VictoriaGlenrowan, King Valley, Beechworth, Rutherglen, Alpine Valleys

Western Australia

ZoneGeographic Indication (GI)
SW AustraliaMargaret River, Geographe, Great Southern (Albany, Denmark, Frankland River, Mount Barker, and Porongurup sug-regions), Pemberton, Backwood Valley, Manjimup
Greater PerthPeel, Perth Hills, Swan District (Swan Valley sub-region)

Queensland

Granite Belt and South Burnett

Tasmania

Tasmania has a southeastern growing area and a northern growing area both under the Tasmania GI

Sources

  • Australia wine statistics including Chardonnay and Shiraz accounting for 44% of production, size of acreage, production volume statistics and variety breakdowns from wineaustralia.com
  • List of Australian Geogephic Indications updated in 2024 referencing wineaustralia.com

Written byMadeline Puckette

James Beard Award-winning author and Wine Communicator of the Year. I co-founded Wine Folly to help people learn about wine. @WineFolly