Adelaide Hills

The Adelaide Hills wine region is just 20 minutes from the Adelaide city centre and is part of the Mount Lofty Ranges. Towns of the Adelaide Hills include Uraidla, Summertown, Bridgewater and of course the charming ‘German-town’ of Hahndorf.

The Mount Lofty Ranges were named in 1802 by Matthew Flinders and on the summit, at 710m, is a monument known as Flinders' Column. There is also a town called Mount Lofty, which in the 1860s had a school, a resident magistrate and of course a vineyard, producing Madeira, Shiraz and Riesling.

Most well known of the Adelaide Hills towns is Hahndorf. The town was settled by Lutheran migrants who mostly came from the village of Kay in the then Prussia. Surprisingly, this famous ‘German-town’ is actually named after a Dane. In this case Captain Hahn, whose ship the Zebra, brought many of these Lutherans to South Australia in 1838. The passengers were so impressed with the Captain’s skills during their long voyage that they named their new home after him. While this makes for a charming ‘German-sounding’ name for English speakers, in fact, for German speakers the literal translation is the rather bemusing ‘rooster-village’.

However, these subtleties of names and languages were a bit over the heads of those in power during the Great War and Hahndorf, like many places, was forced to change its name to something more ‘patriotic’. (Even the English Royal family changed its name at this time, becoming the ‘Windsors’.) Hahndorf became Ambleside until 1935, when it was changed back to Hahndorf.

Vines were first planted in the Adelaide Hills region in 1839. But it was not until 1842 that German settlers began planting their own vines around the new town of Hahndorf. Even in this region wine making gradually disappeared as tastes changed, but when they changed again, Adelaide Hills was one of the first to re-establish its wine making capacity, with the first modern vineyards developing in the early 1970s. Nowadays, over 1800 hectares of the Adelaide Hills are planted with vines.

The Adelaide Hills region runs from the Barossa Valley, south to Langhorne Creek, making it one of the largest of South Australia’s wine regions. Mount Lofty is a central influence on the Adelaide Hills, with a peak of over 700m, and the general elevation of the Mt Lofty Ranges means the region is cooler on average than the nearby plains. Mount Lofty also provides a rain shadow that increases the rainfall of the Adelaide Hills region. However, while the rainfall is high, it is generally in the winter that it falls, and summers are usually dry with mild temperatures.

The cool climate of the Adelaide Hills region is ideal for growing all kinds of fruits, such as apples, pears, cherries and of course grapes. In particular Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay are the dominant varieties of the Adelaide Hills. However, Merlot, Shiraz, Semillon and Cabernet Sauvignon are also grown successfully, and some less well-known varieties such as Trollinger, Sangiovese and Nebbiolo have also produced wine of much excellence.

There are a great many wineries throughout the Adelaide Hills and many of these have great cellar door facilities. One is the Mawson Ridge Vineyard named after Mawson Rd, which in turn was named after the Antarctic explorer, Douglas Mawson, who owned land in this area. Mawson Ridge Vineyard is owned by Raymond and Madeleine Marion, and is close by the town of Lenswood. Planted in 1993, Mawson Ridge Vineyard now has some 12 acres of vines producing Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. Another great Adelaide Hills winery is Petaluma wines, which has a number of vineyards around the Adelaide Hills and in other South Australian wine regions. But to enjoy Petaluma wines one just needs to go some 25 minutes from Adelaide to the historic Bridgewater Mill, from the restaurant of which visitors can view the still moving waterwheel. Built in 1860, Bridgewater Mill was a flourmill until transformed into the site of one of the Adelaide Hills best cellar doors.

The wineries also serve great food and this food is nearly always excellent and nearly always produced from within the Adelaide Hills region itself. Fresh fruit and vegetables, cheeses, olives, jams, and even confectionery are all part of what the Hills has to offer.

The Adelaide Hills are a popular tourist spot for the people of Adelaide. It is an easily reached place to escape the summer heat of the city and provides visitors with a range of B&Bs, as well as cellar doors. And one of these destinations is Hahndorf, where visitors can see a touch of the European in its architecture and its products, such as the German style breads, cakes and confectionary. Also in Hahndorf is the Hahndorf Academy, which has several galleries, a German heritage museum, and The Cedars, the historic home and studio of the artist Hans Heysen.

Other sites of interest in the Adelaide Hills include the Bridgewater Mill where a giant waterwheel known as The Old Rumbler can still be seen in operation; Mount Lofty House, an 1850s home, nearly destroyed in the Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983, but now fully restored; and the National Costume Museum at Lobethal, where can be seen a range of gowns, suits, handbags, buttons, and hats from 1812 to 2000.

Adelaide Hills is a cool climate wine region and is undoubtedly one of Australia’s best. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Sauvignon Blanc are just a few of the most outstanding wines of the region. Shiraz, Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon are varieties also of great note, along with Pinot Gris, Viognier, Nebbiolo and Zinfandel. For both sparkling wines and great table wines, the Adelaide Hills is hard to beat.