The wonders of Coonawarra

Wine Review

Last month marked my annual pilgrimage to Coonawarra in South Australia, one of the world's best regions for cabernet sauvignon. It is impossible to describe all of the wonders of this region in one column, so this week will be necessarily selective.

The Coonawarra is a cigar-shaped strip of land only 12 km long and 2 km wide. It is famous for its "terra rossa" (red soil) that is so distinctive when viewed from the air. About a meter of limestone sits under the red topsoil and this combination of rich minerals and terroir gives the region's wines their distinct flavors. The name Coonawarra comes from the Aboriginal word for honeysuckle.