Wine regions - Murray Darling
Murray-Darling Victoria, New South Wales
The Murray-Darling vineyard region winds itself along the great Murray River. The constant sunshine allows for the production of wines with ripe fruit flavours and softness.
The region extends from the South Australian border to just east of Balranald in New South Wales taking in both sides of the Murray River and part of the Darling and Murrumbidgee rivers. The largest concentration of vineyards is around Mildura and Red Cliffs and further east around Euston.
The region was opened up to agricultural production by irrigation initiated in the 1870s by George and William Chaffey. Today the region is the powerhouse of the Australian wine industry with all the big wine companies producing bulk table wines and fortifieds with an increasing proportion of production being devoted to premium wine especially Chardonnay.
The climate is continental; hot and dry with low rainfall making it a relatively fungus disease free region thus reducing the risk for such large-scale production. A range of grape varieties are grown, with, however, an emphasis on Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon and fortified varieties such as Muscat Gordo Blanco, Semillon and Colombard.
The region's status as a food basket was amply demonstrated on the ABC TV program and book A Gondola on the Murray presented by Mildura chef Stefano De Pieri. The produce from this region is wonderfully diverse as are the people who bring it to our tables.
Harvest time: late January to mid March
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