Fleurieu zone is a wine zone located south of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. It extends from

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

in the west as far north as

Flagstaff Hill Flagstaff Hill usually refers to a hill on which a flag was erected. It may refer to: Place names Australia * Flagstaff Hill, near Linton, Victoria * Flagstaff Hill, Melbourne, a hill in the historic Flagstaff Gardens, Melbourne * Flagstaff Hill, S ...

on the west side of the

Mount Lofty Ranges The Mount Lofty Ranges are a range of mountains in the Australian state of South Australia which for a small part of its length borders the east of Adelaide. The part of the range in the vicinity of Adelaide is called the Adelaide Hills and ...

and to as far north as Langhorne Creek on the east side of the Mount Lofty Ranges. It consists of the following five

wine regions This list of wine-producing regions catalogues significant growing regions where vineyards are planted. Wine grapes mostly grow between the 30th and the 50th degree of latitude, in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Grapes will sometimes ...

, each of which has received

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

as an Australian Geographical Indication (AGI): Currency Creek,

, Langhorne Creek,

McLaren Vale McLaren Vale is a wine region in the Australian state of South Australia located in the Adelaide metropolitan area and centred on the town of McLaren Vale about south of the Adelaide city centre. It is internationally renowned for the wine ...

and the Southern Fleurieu.

Extent and appellation

The Fleurieu zone includes the following areas south of Adelaide - Kangaroo Island, the

Fleurieu Peninsula The Fleurieu Peninsula () is a peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia located south of the state capital of Adelaide. History Before British colonisation of South Australia, the western side of the peninsula was occupied by the K ...

, the strip of coast on west side of the Mount Lofty Ranges extending into the southern Adelaide metropolitan area and the strip of land on the western shore of Lake Alexandrina including the town of Langhorne Creek and the following islands within the lake - Hindmarsh, Mundoo, and Long. The term ‘Fleurieu’ was registered as an AGI under the ''Wine Australia Corporation Act 1980'' on 27 December 1996.

Constituent regions

The wine zone includes the following wine regions - Currency Creek, Kangaroo Island, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale and the Southern Fleurieu.

Currency Creek wine region

The Currency Creek wine region is located on the west side of Lake Alexandrina between

Milang Milang ( ) is a town and locality located in the Australian state of South Australia on the west coast of Lake Alexandrina (South Australia), Lake Alexandrina about south-east of the state capital of Adelaide city centre, Adelaide and about nor ...

, the

Murray Mouth Murray Mouth is the point at which the River Murray meets the Southern Ocean. The Murray Mouth's location is changeable. Historical records show that the channel out to sea moves along the sand dunes over time. At times of greater river flow ...

Port Elliot Port Elliot is a town in South Australia toward the eastern end of the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. It is situated on the sheltered Horseshoe Bay, a small bay off the much larger Encounter Bay. Pullen Island lies outside the mouth of t ...

and just south of Ashbourne including the town of Currency Creek. Chardonnay, Riesling,

Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in ...

and Semillon grow here, though the region also produces some notable red wines.Stevenson, 2005, pages 578-581 The term ‘Currency Creek’ was registered as an AGI on 9 April 2001. As of 2012, the region contains at least two wineries.

Kangaroo Island wine region

The Kangaroo Island wine region which covers the full extent of the island of the same name is known for its Bordeaux style wines. Most of the vineyards are found on the

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...

and sandy loam soils near Kingscote. The term ‘Kangaroo Island’ was registered as an AGI on 8 December 2000. As of 2012, the region contains at least seven wineries.

Langhorne Creek wine region

The Langhorne Creek wine region is located southeast from the town of Strathalbyn along the Bremer River to Lake Alexandrina.

Orlando Wines Orlando Wines is an Australian wine company, well known for Jacob's Creek wine, first released in 1976. The company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Pernod Ricard since 1989 and is now known as Pernod Ricard Winemakers. The winery stil ...

sources many of the grapes for its Jacob's Creek brand from this region which has also developed a reputation of its

dessert wine Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines in the United Kingdom, are sweet wines typically served with dessert. There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal ...

s. The term ‘Langhorne Creek’ was registered as an AGI on 16 October 1998. As of 2012, the region contains at least 17 wineries.

McLaren Vale wine region

The McLaren Vale wine region is located south of Adelaide and extends from

in the north to

Kangarilla Kangarilla is a small rural town and locality around from Adelaide city centre, in South Australia. The area, formerly inhabited by Kaurna people, was settled by Europeans in 1840, not long after the British colonisation of South Australia. Tod ...

in the east and to

Sellicks Beach __NOTOC__ Sellicks Beach, formerly spelt Sellick's Beach, is a suburb in the Australian state of South Australia located within Adelaide metropolitan area about from the Adelaide city centre. It is an outer southern suburb of Adelaide and ...

in the south. With the area's of rain, and diversity of soil types including sand, clay and limestone, this area produces a wide range of wines with Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon,

Merlot Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of ''merle'', the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the ...

, Chardonnay, Semillon and Sauvignon blanc being the most widely planted. The term ‘McLaren Vale’ was registered as an AGI on 2 September 1997. As of 2012, the region contains at least 82 wineries.

Southern Fleurieu wine region

The Southern Fleurieu region is located on the Fleurieu Peninsula and the portion of the Mount Lofty Ranges extending north east from the peninsula to Willunga in the west and Ashbourne in the east. The area's sandy loam and gravel based ironstone soil supports Cabernet Sauvignon,

Malbec Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are n ...

, Riesling and

Viognier Viognier () is a white wine grape variety. It is the only permitted grape for the French wine Condrieu in the Rhône Valley.J. Robinson ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 754 Oxford University Press 2006 Outside of the Rhôn ...

plantings. Shiraz, Sauvignon blanc, Merlot and Primitivo are also planted at Nangkita near Mount Compass. The term ‘Southern Fleurieu’ was registered as an AGI on 6 June 2001. As of 2012, the region contains at least five wineries.Haliday, 2012, page 762

Citations and references

Citations

References

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