Riverland, South Australia.

SAMANTHA PAYNE explores a misunderstood wine region that’s earning international renown.

Drive two hours north-east of Adelaide and you’ll find yourself in a wine region that crushes more than a quarter of Australia’s wine grapes each year. While it doesn’t boast the history of neighbouring Barossa, or have the flash of McLaren Vale, the Riverland’s contribution to Australian wine is no less important than its neighbours.

When you first look at the list of Riverland winemakers, it’s a Who’s Who of big names producing upwards of a half a million cases of wine annually, which often leads to the assumption that the region produces a high-volume of low-quality wine. This couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s this misconception (and very affordable land prices) that has led award-winning viticulturist Ashley Ratcliff to champion the region and build a groundswell of excitement about fruit from the Riverland for more than a decade.

Ratcliff makes wine under the Ricca Terra label, but also supplies fruit to wineries across the country – a process that he oversees closely to ensure quality. “We control every step of the process,” he says. “The vines are hand-pruned

and grapes are handpicked.” This extra effort has gone a long way in changing attitudes towards Riverland fruit.

The region’s proximity to the Murray River makes it a lush and picturesque place to visit, but it comes at a price. Growers in the region work in delicate balance with the ecosystem — decades have been spent planning and researching which grapes should be planted. Drought management and sustainability are paramount. The boom of Italian and Portuguese varieties grown in Australia can partly be attributed to the work that was done by Ratcliff and other growers in the Riverland, as they realised the importance of planting slow-ripening grapes that don’t require a lot of water and can withstand the drastically changing Australian landscape. Grapes such as nero d’avola, fiano and montepulciano thrive in the region alongside 90-year old dry-grown grenache. “We’re trying to plant for 10 years in the future – we beat our own drum and show people the way forward with these lighter style reds and textural whites.”

Con-Greg Grigoriou, who makes globally in-demand wine under his Delinquente label, calls the Riverland

“the story of the outsider and the underdog”. He purchases the majority of fruit for his brand from third-generation grape growers in the region who were early adopters of alternative varieties and organic farming. He, like Ratcliff, has always seen the silver bullet of the Riverland as the ability to produce high quality and exciting wines that people want to drink – at extremely affordable prices.