If you’re looking for a picture-book, quintessentially Australian wine region, look no further than the Clare Valley.
If you’re looking for some of the finest Riesling in the world, look no further than the Clare Valley.
If you’re looking for mist-shrouded, rolling green hills rising from tracts of wild Australian bushland, meandering rivers and creeks, charming townships with old stone mansions steeped in history…
Look no further than the Clare Valley.
Two hours from Adelaide , Clare Valley is as stunning as it gets. Charming cottages and cellar doors aplenty, the region was first settled back to the 1830′s by local pioneer John Horrocks, but the more famous ancestors are the Jesuit Brothersof the St Aloysius Church, who still operate Sevehill Cellars, fleeing persecution from what is now Poland.
There are five subregions, and the names will no doubt be very familiar – Sevenhill, Watervale, Polish Hill River, Auburn and the township of Clare itself.
There’s a stunning 1879 Georgian mansion called Martindale Hall which was featured in Peter Weir’s Picnic At Hanging Rock. Walking up the stately drive is stepping back in time.
For wine, it’s quite a unique region in that it actually gets bloody hot on the plains, so you shouldn’t really end up producing good Riesling, but the hills are such cool micro-climates unto themselves.
So you end up with world-class Riesling – explosions of juicy citrus, cool minerality, and racy natural acidity. Indeed my favourite Rieslings in the world come from the Clare.
But you can also get amazingly rich and powerful Shiraz, trademarked by unmistakable milk chocolate and cherry flavours, and Cabernet (my favourite Clare reds) with again that rich, dark fruit and chocolate.
Talk producers, and you’ve got the famous and long-established Jim Barry, Taylor’s, Pikes, Annie’s Lane.
You’ve got the legendary Wendouree, Grosset (finest Rieslings in the world?), Kilikanoon, Skillogalee (a must-visit lunch destination), the new Clos Clare (another absolutely stunning old mansion on the hill with views to die for), and so many more brands and cellar doors, you could spend weeks in wine heaven.
There’s a bicycle Riesling trail that would no doubt be fun, but beware the perils of drink riding 
The people behind the region have always been so welcoming, so hospitable, that I suspect there’s something in the air in this stunning region, something that has carried through for 170 years, from the land, to the buildings, the people, the wines…
Something altogether wonderful that keeps me coming back.