South Australia

the wine state in australia, responsible for 45 to 50% of the annual crush. This share may have fallen from the 75% of the 1940s and 1950s, but the state still dominates the country’s wine output. Vine-growing and winemaking are major contributors to South Australia’s gross domestic production, yet they occupy only a small percentage of the state’s vast land mass. Vine-growing is concentrated in the south eastern corner, much of it within an hour’s drive of the capital Adelaide. The two outposts are the Riverland sprawling along the Murray river (the Lower Murray Zone); and Coonawarra and nearby Padthaway 325 km/200 miles south east of Adelaide, not far from the border with victoria (the Limestone Coast Zone).