The Canberra District wine region is located around

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

in the

Capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It covers the northern part of the Australian Capital Territory and an area of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

to the east and north of that, including towns of Bungendore, Murrumbateman and Yass, New South Wales. Wine is grown and produced in a triangular area of about 60 km sides bordered by

Yass Yass may refer to: People * Catherine Yass (born 1963), painter * Yazz, a British pop singer from the 1980s and 1990s * Jeff Yass (born 1956), options trader, managing director and one of the five founders of the Philadelphia-based Susquehanna I ...

, and Bungendore, taking in the important localities of Murrumbateman and Lake George. The district is noted as a cool-climate wine area, but encompasses a substantial climatic range, with the lower altitude and more inland regions near

substantially warmer than the higher altitude areas near Bungendore.

History

The industry dates from the 1970s, although wines were produced in the settlement near Yass in the 1860s.

Climate and geography

The region is part of the Southern Tablelands about inland from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. The region receives moderate, but variable rainfall, and vineyards require supplemental irrigation in most years. Typical vineyard elevations range between , and the inland location result in relatively high continentality, possibly explaining the affinity for leading varieties

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As o ...

and Riesling. Promising recent results from

Tempranillo Tempranillo (also known as Ull de Llebre, Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Tinta del Pais in Spain, Aragonez or Tinta Roriz in Portugal, and several other synonyms elsewhere) is a black grape variety widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in its ...

may be explained by the strong homoclime to

Ribera del Duero Ribera del Duero is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) located in the country's northern plateau and is one of eleven 'quality wine' regions within the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also one of several recogni ...

. *Annual rainfall: *Mean January (late growth period) temp: *Sunshine hours per day: 7.4 Spring Range-riesling2007

Production

The main grape varieties grown are Riesling,

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

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 ...

, Sémillon,

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

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 ...

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

and Pinot gris. Picking and vintage extend from late February (Pinot noir, Chardonnay) to late May (botrytis Pinot gris or Riesling). About two thirds of the vines are red wine varieties, and one third are white.

References

External links

Canberra Wines
{{Wine regions of New South Wales Geography of Canberra Wine regions of New South Wales

History

Climate and geography

Production

See also

References

External links