What’s hot in Adelaide Hills: New styles and wines to try
How changing conditions are allowing producers to develop fresh styles and character in this idyllic corner of South Australia.
The modern Adelaide Hills wine industry began in 1976 when Brian Croser planted Petaluma’s first vines in the Piccadilly Valley, where he still lives and makes wine under the Tapanappa brand.
For a region which is really only 40 years old, the Hills has caught up quickly. Now considered one of Australia’s highest quality wine regions, it’s a beautiful place to visit – richly supplied with quality restaurants, leisure activities and picturesque villages, and just a half-hour drive from Adelaide’s centre.
In the highest, coolest places it resembles a snatch of hilly English countryside, green all year round with grand English trees and lush gardens and hedges. In the lower, warmer parts it is much more Australian, with scrubby land supporting sparser eucalypts and casuarinas.
