Nuriootpa ( ) is a town in

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 ...

and the major commercial centre of the

Barossa Valley The Barossa Valley ( Barossa German: ''Barossa Tal'') is a valley in South Australia located northeast of Adelaide city centre. The valley is formed by the North Para River. It is notable as a major wine-producing region and tourist destinati ...

, about an hour's drive north of the state capital,

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 ...

. The name of the town is reputed to be the local Aboriginal word for "meeting place". Nuriootpa is situated at the north end of the

, near the

Sturt Highway Sturt Highway is an Australian national highway in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is an important road link for the transport of passengers and freight between Sydney and Adelaide and the regions situated adjacent to the r ...

and has a population of over 6500 people, making it the largest town in the area. There are grape-vines growing on some of the buildings in the main streets, and vineyards surrounding the town. It is home to wineries including

Penfolds Penfolds is an Australian wine producer that was founded in Adelaide in 1844 by Christopher Rawson Penfold, an English physician who emigrated to Australia, and his wife Mary Penfold. It is one of Australia's oldest wineries, and is currently p ...

Elderton Wines Elderton Wines is an Australian winery in Nuriootpa, in the Barossa Valley. The company was founded by Neil and Lorraine Ashmead in 1979. The Elderton wines are made from grape varieties including red grapes Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlo ...

and

Wolf Blass Wolf Blass is an Australian winery based in Nuriootpa, South Australia Nuriootpa ( ) is a town in South Australia and the major commercial centre of the Barossa Valley, about an hour's drive north of the state capital, Adelaide. The name of ...

History

The first recorded Europeans to visit the locality, on 3 March 1838, were the exploration party of

John Hill John Hill may refer to: Business * John Henry Hill (1791–1882), American businessman, educator and missionary * John Hill (planter) (1824–1910), Scottish-born American industrialist and planter * John Hill (businessman) (1847–1926), Austral ...

, John Oakden, William Wood, and Charles Willis, ''en route'' to the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...

from Adelaide. Since the 1930s, Nuriootpa has been cited as an example of inspired community development. The town's community owned and operated retail businesses have funded public facilities, including the Senior Citizens' Club, the swimming pool, the kindergarten and recreation areas. The short-lived progressive Adelaide movement, the Common Cause Movement, arranged a visit by future Prime Minister

Ben Chifley Joseph Benedict Chifley (; 22 September 1885 – 13 June 1951) was an Australian politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1945, follow ...

to Nuriootpa in 1944 which led him, inspired by its approach, to promote the town as a model for community co-operation. The Adelaide architect Louis Laybourne-Smith prepared a plan for the town's recreation and education area, known as its 'War Memorial Community Centre' at that time. Much of this plan has been realised, including Laybourne-Smith's unusual 'fan-shaped' Olympic-sized pool. The 1950 Australian Grand Prix, which was Australia's premier motor race of that year, was held on 2 January 1950 using the ''Nuriootpa Road Circuit'', a temporary course utilising roads in and around the town of Nuriootpa. The race was won by

Doug Whiteford Doug Whiteford was an Australian racing driver. Whiteford raced from the mid-1930s through to 1975 with a short period of inactivity during the 1960s.Ray Bell, Vale – Doug Whiteford, Racing Car News, February 1979, page 11 He was best known a ...

driving a

Ford V8 Ford engines are those used in Ford Motor Company vehicles and in aftermarket, sports and kit applications. Different engine ranges are used in various global markets. 3 cylinder A series of Ford DOHC 12-valve inline-three engines with Twin Ind ...

Special. The first race meeting to use the circuit had been held in April 1949. On 21 March 1977

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

visited the town as part of an extended tour marking her Silver Jubilee. The first stage of the 2014 Tour Down Under was held on 21 January 2014, starting from the town and finishing in Angaston. The 135 km stage was won by

Simon Gerrans Simon Gerrans (born 16 May 1980) is an Australian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2018, for the , , , , and squads. Post-retirement he initially worked as an athlete intern at Goldman Sachs in L ...

of Orica-GreenEDGE.

Governance

Nuriootpa is in the

Barossa Council Barossa Council is a local government area in the Barossa Valley in South Australia. The council area covers 912 square kilometres and had a population of over 23,000 as at the 2016 Census. History It was proclaimed on 1 July 1996 following t ...

, although the northern outskirts are in the

Light Regional Council Light Regional Council is a local government area north of Adelaide in South Australia. It is based in the town of Kapunda, and includes the towns of Freeling, Greenock, Hansborough, Hewett, Roseworthy and Wasleys. The council is named f ...

. It is in the state

electoral district of Schubert Schubert is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly covering an area of 2,017.8 km². It is named after Max Schubert, the winemaker of Penfolds Grange Hermitage. The Barossa Valley area was first repre ...

(and Light for the outskirts) and the federal

Division of Barker The Division of Barker is an Australian Electoral Division in the south-east of South Australia. The division was established on 2 October 1903, when South Australia's original single multi-member division was split into seven single-member div ...

Media

Nuriootpa was home to the short-lived ''Nuriootpa and District Community Diary'' (November 1955 – November 1956), a monthly magazine subtitled "'': monthly news bulletin of the Nuriootpa War Memorial Community Centre Inc"''. The main local newspaper covering the town is '' The Leader'', published in Angaston.

Climate

Nuriootpa has a subtropical

steppe climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

as defined by the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, experiencing warm, mostly dry summers and cool to cold winters with moderate rainfall. Historical maxima and minima are 46.0 °C (114.8 °F) on 24 January 2019 and −4.5 °C (23.9 °F) on 15 June 2006.

History

Governance

Media

Climate

See also

References

Further reading