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Australia

Clare Valley

5 500 ha under vine

Soils
Red loam over limestone, and slate, on a high inland range
Climate
Warm days, cold nights at altitude; unusually cool for its warm reputation

On the map

Clare Valley — 5 500 haMendoza — 150 000 haCentral Valley — 120 000 haNingxia — 40 000 haMarlborough — 29 000 haColumbia Valley — 25 000 haSonoma County — 24 000 haNapa Valley — 18 000 haPaso Robles — 16 000 haStellenbosch — 15 000 haWillamette Valley — 11 500 haBarossa Valley — 11 500 haMaipo Valley — 11 000 haSwartland — 10 000 haCanelones — 7 500 haMcLaren Vale — 7 000 haCasablanca Valley — 6 000 haMargaret River — 5 800 haNiagara Peninsula — 5 500 haCoonawarra — 5 700 haHawke's Bay — 5 000 haFinger Lakes — 4 000 haOkanagan Valley — 3 000 haHunter Valley — 2 500 haYarra Valley — 2 500 haTasmania — 2 000 haCentral Otago — 2 000 haConstantia — 450 haClare ValleyMendozaCentral ValleyNingxiaMarlboroughColumbia ValleySonoma CountyNapa ValleyPaso RoblesStellenboschWillamette ValleyBarossa ValleyMaipo ValleySwartlandCanelonesMcLaren ValeCasablanca ValleyMargaret RiverNiagara PeninsulaCoonawarraHawke's BayFinger LakesOkanagan ValleyHunter ValleyYarra ValleyTasmaniaCentral OtagoConstantia
Blob size ≈ vineyard area · approximate locations · coastlines from Natural Earth

A high, narrow range of valleys north of Adelaide, the Clare is a paradox: a warm-country region that makes Australia's benchmark Riesling — bone-dry, steely, lime-scented, and famously long-lived, thanks to cold nights and cool cellars. Its wines age for twenty years into toast and honey while keeping a piercing citrus core.

Alongside that great Riesling, the Clare's red soils grow deep, structured Shiraz and Cabernet. Settled early by German and Jesuit vignerons, it is one of Australia's oldest and most distinctive regions — and the country's undisputed home of fine dry Riesling.

The vineyard

Indicative share of plantings

The wines

Clare Valley Riesling Dry white

Through time

Indicative presence index, 0–100Origins & Antiquity — 0The Monastic Middle Ages — 0Exploration & the Fortified Age — 0Classifications & the Golden Age — 10Phylloxera & the World Crises — 15The Modern & New World Era — 75Antiquity0500150017001875195075
Classifications & the Golden Age 1700 Phylloxera & the World Crises 1875 The Modern & New World Era 1950