Five Top-Notch South Australian Winemakers to Get Behind If You're Committed to Supporting and Drinking Local 

With winemaker Corrina Wright overseeing the vino at Oliver’s Taranga Vineyards, gender and cultural diversity is one of the winery’s big focuses. Wright comes from a grape-growing family that hails back almost two centuries, so she’s not only well-versed in the industry’s ups and downs, but is also putting everything she knows into practice at the McLaren Vale spot that also dates back to the mid-1800s. The result: a winery that has grown out of a hefty history, and prefers to work with emerging varieties. The region already has the household names covered, so Oliver’s Taranga Vineyard favours mataro, grenache, vermentino, fiano, tempranillo, mencia, touriga, sagrantino and white frontignac, for example. It only makes its wines from its own grapes; however you’ll also find its fruit popping up in tipples by other wineries. Yes, that’s a good sign.

Back in the early 90s, when Fox Creek Wines released its first vino after a decade of planning and planting, it won Best Wine at the local McLaren Vale Wine Show. Clearly, the winery started with a splash — and lovers of top tipples have been enjoying splashing their glasses with its minimal-intervention drops ever since. While a range of styles are on the menu here, Fox Creek’s selection gravitates towards shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and grenache. They’re all made using a light-handling approach, and only with fruit from the region, including some on vines that date back to the early 20th century.

Being known for making great wines is all well and good, and it’s something that the d’Arenberg winery and the Osborn family behind it have been able to claim for over a century. Being known for making great wines and having a giant cube soaring about the vines? That’s a newer claim to fame, but d’Arenberg ticks that box as well. The five-storey cube is quite the centrepiece, understandably. But, consider it a bonus — because these organic, biodynamic tipples earn plenty of attention on their own. When it comes to whites, d’Arenberg likes expressive drops with delicate bouquets. When it comes to reds, it goes big, fruity and fragrant.

The Clare Valley is one of South Australia’s standout regions, and one of Australia’s oldest wine regions, too. So, when Justin Ardill decided to leap from pharmacy and medicine to winemaking with his wife Julie, it was a natural choice for their base. That was back in 1993 and, under the Reillys Wines brand, the pair is still crafting estate wines 27 years on. Reillys’ approach: deploying traditional winemaking techniques in order to bring out the distinct flavour of the grapes. That’s what you’ll taste in the label’s flagship white, the award-winning Reillys Watervale riesling, which has been available since the winery’s very first vintage and features floral, citrus and honeysuckle notes.

Bold Barossa Valley drops are on the menu at Kaesler Wines, all from a winery with a significant past. This long-standing outfit dates back to the 1800s, with 96 acres of grapes in place by the end of that century. It’s no longer owned and operated by the Kaesler family, with Reid Bosward taking over in 1999, but the site’s commitment to winemaking remains. Clearly, old-vine grapes are on offer here. Under Bosward, so is a preference for strong tipples — and for names that you won’t forget. Monikers such as Old Bastard and The Bogan have graced its labels over the years, with the latter attached to a premium shiraz that’s concentrated, full-bodied and fruity.