Circuiting the eastern boundary of the city of Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills are part of the Mount Lofty Ranges. Stretching from the Barossa and Eden Valleys in the north to the boundaries of McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek in the south, the Adelaide Hills is one of South Australia's largest wine regions, as well as the oldest.

The veritable maze of valleys and sub-valleys, with slopes offering every conceivable aspect, means there is as much mesoclimatic variation as one can find anywhere in Australia, making generalisations very hazardous.

However, most of the Adelaide Hills has an unequivocally cool climate, with heat summations ranging from less than 1,300 at Stirling to 1,398 at Lenswood. It is not until one reaches the northern extremity of the region, and the west-facing slopes, that one moves out of a climate suited principally to the early-ripening varieties such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc, and into terrain which satisfactorily ripens Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.

Barossa Valley is Australia's best-known wine region. The Barossa Valley, with its strong German heritage is a place full of character. Most renowned for its opulent styles of Shiraz which is the best in the world, the region also produces fine examples of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonny.

The climate of the region has often been unfairly characterised as very warm but in its lower parts it is only moderately so and at higher altitudes quite cool. The region does have a wide diurnal temperature range, higher maxima, more sunshine and a much lower humidity and rainfall. All of this adds up to a continental climate ideal for full-bodied red wines, excellent fortified wines and generally robust white wines.

Coonawarra is an Aboriginal word meaning honeysuckle which is located in the southeast corner of south Australia state some 400 km from Adelaide. The region has a cool to warm continental climate, with a high diurnal range. The terra rossa soil produce the Australia's most outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon wines. This clay sits on top of welldraining limestone and quite often breaks though the red soil to produce a stony looking vineyard. Rain easily flows through to the limestone and therefore the soils are well drained, another aspect for guaranteeing high quality Cabernet Sauvignon grape production.

We have long nurtured our growers in this outpost of cool climate winemaking. The transitional soils typically produce aromatic wines of depth and complexity and this wine is no exception. Grown in an 'Australian sprawl', the fruit shows off the elegant vibrancy of Coonawarra and its signature variety - Cabernet Sauvignon.