The best Coonawarra cellar doors
Where to taste the terra rossa
Coonawarra is Australia's Cabernet heartland, a narrow cigar-shaped band of terra rossa over limestone that gives the region's reds their unmistakable structure and cassis fruit. The wineries below range from founding families to modern benchmark makers - taste across a few in a day and the character of the soil starts to make itself clear.
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1
CoonawarraWynns Coonawarra Estate
The region's defining estate, where Coonawarra Cabernet was effectively written into the rule book.
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2
CoonawarraBalnaves of Coonawarra
Family-led tastings built around The Tally, one of Coonawarra's great reserve Cabernets.
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3
CoonawarraRedman Wines
A founding family pouring honest, age-worthy reds at gloriously fair prices.
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4
CoonawarraParker Coonawarra Estate
Home of First Growth, a classic single-vineyard Cabernet named with a nod to Bordeaux.
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5
CoonawarraPenley Estate
Polished Cabernet and a smart cellar door experience among the vines.
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6
CoonawarraHollick Estates
Terra rossa reds paired with a hilltop restaurant and long views.
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7
CoonawarraMajella Wines
Powerful, generous Cabernet and Shiraz from a grower-turned-maker.
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8
CoonawarraZema Estate
A family estate crafting structured, traditional Coonawarra reds.
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9
CoonawarraRymill Coonawarra
Long-established maker with a relaxed, welcoming tasting room.
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10
CoonawarraKatnook Estate
A historic name pouring estate Cabernet and cool-climate whites.
Book ahead at the smaller estates, take it slowly, and let the strip reveal why Cabernet found one of its great homes here.
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Image credits
- Winter vineyard in Coonawarra.JPG by ScottDavis , CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons