Coonawarra

Coonawarra is defined by a geological accident: a cigar-shaped strip of terra rossa, thin red soil over limestone, about twenty kilometres long and less than two wide, sitting in an otherwise unremarkable flat landscape. On it, cabernet sauvignon develops a structure and mint-and-blackcurrant character that has made the district the reference point for the variety in Australia, with producers including Wynns, Penfolds and Katnook working vines planted from the 1890s. The boundary of the strip has been litigated in court because being inside it matters commercially. Cellar doors line the main road, cycling between them is easy on flat ground, and Penola nearby holds the Mary MacKillop heritage sites.

What you actually see

• The terra rossa strip - the red soil band the whole region depends on.
• The cabernet cellar doors - producers strung along the main road.
• The old vines - plantings dating back to the 1890s.
• Penola - the historic town with the Mary MacKillop schoolhouse.

When to go

March to May for vintage, September to November for spring; winter is cold and wet. Cellar doors mostly open daily but close by late afternoon. The Coonawarra Cabernet Celebrations fall in October.

Honest expectations

The landscape is flat and plain, and the region's interest is entirely in the glass. Cellar doors are strung along a highway with trucks. Accommodation is concentrated in Penola and limited. Tasting fees are increasingly common.

Nearby

Penola is minutes away; Mount Gambier lies south and Naracoorte north.