Adelaide Hills

Fast Facts

  • Latitude:
    34°50’S
  • Altitude:
    400–500 m
  • Heat degree days:
    1270
  • Growing season rainfall:
    310 mm
  • Mean January temp:
    19.1°C
  • Harvest:
    Mid March to late April
  • Chief viticultural hazard:
    Poor fruit set

Discover the history, wine and wineries of the Adelaide Hills wine region.

Discover Adelaide Hills, with James Halliday's Wine Atlas of Australia

Laws relating to the sale of alcohol have never been rational, and are unlikely to ever become so: there are too many competing forces – ranging from neo-prohibitionists to governments wishing to extract ever-increasing tax revenue. But Walter Duffield must stand as one of the great martyrs: in 1844 he sent a case of ‘Echunga Hock’ to Queen Victoria, and was promptly prosecuted for making wine without the requisite licence.

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James admiring a glass of merlot

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