Clare Valley

The Clare Valley is one of Australia's oldest wine regions and includes the towns of Sevenhill, Mintaro, Kapunda, Penwortham, Watervale, Auburn, Bura and Clare. The town of Clare is 120 km north or about a one and a half hour drive, from Adelaide.

The Ngadjuri people lived in the Clare Valley for many generations before Irish settlers decided it resembled County Clare in Ireland. These settlers began arriving in the 1840s to establish such stations as Bungaree, which is still run today by the original Hawker family. The Hawkers were English but Irish and Polish immigrants were prominent in the early waves of settlers.

While the raising of sheep was the prime occupation of most of these new arrivals, this at first did not prove very profitable and the colony of South Australia was on the verge of bankruptcy towards the end of the 1830s, when the discovery of copper transformed the situation. This occurred first within the Clare Valley around the town of Kapunda in 1838. Even richer deposits were found at the other end of the Care Valley in 1845, around Burra, and this consequently brought in thousands of miners from many parts of the world but from Cornwall in particular. The mine at Burra was at one time the world’s largest copper mine and was known as the Burra Monster Mine. It is also famous for the greed of its owners, whose efforts to secure their profits saw them continually attempt to reduce wages, sparking many strikes as a result.

The copper was taken by bullock teams, and even at one stage by Spanish-speaking muleteers from Uruguay, in convoys along the Great Western Road to Port Wakefield. These copper convoys moved slowly and made camp often, where they did, towns such as Mintaro, Watervale, Balaklava, Leasingham, Bowmans, and Whitwarta sprang up. Once the railway was connected to Burra of course, these towns lost such traffic and became sleepy backwaters. Mintaro, however, was one town that managed to survive better than most on the basis of its slate quarries. In fact, Mintaro slate is of high quality and is found in many older buildings through South Australia, as well as in Sydney and Melbourne.

Perhaps Mintaro’s most famous son is C. J. Dennis, the author of such Australian classics as the Sentimental Bloke and Ginger Mick.

The Clare Valley has a long wine history, as does many regions in South Australia, but with Sevenhill Cellars, founded by Austrian Jesuits who migrated to Australia in 1848; it undoubtedly has one of the more interesting origins. The Jesuits established Sevenhill Cellars in 1851, making it the oldest existing winery in the Clare Valley.

The Clare Valley region has a climate of cool to cold nights and warm to hot summer days. Its rain falls mainly in the winter and its dry summer’s makes irrigation necessary in most vineyards, though with the advantage of also making fungal diseases rare. The Clare Valley lies at elevations between 300m to 500m and has four main river systems.

The Clare Valley is perhaps best known for its superb Riesling but such excellent varieties as Semillon, Chardonnay, Grenache, and Shiraz all do very well. These wines are made in the Clare Valley region by more than 40 wineries, most of which are small in scale, such as Reilly's Wines in Mintaro. Established in 1994 by Justin and Julie Ardill, the vineyards produces table wines and ports from Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, Grenache and Shiraz varieties. A feature of Reilly’s Wines is that irrigation is not used, this forces the roots deeper and ensures lower quantities of more highly flavoured grapes. extra virgin olive oil is also made here from wild olives of the district. At Reilly’s there is a cellar door known as Reilly's Cottage, a restaurant, and accommodation.

Another Clare Valley winery of note is Pikes Polish Hill Wines, a family owned and operated affair established in 1984. Planted with 90 acres of vines, Pikes is most well known for its dry, crisp Riesling, and the cellar door is located in an old stone shearing shed. Also of note for producing a wine of another sort is Thorogoods Apple Wines. Thorogoods’ not only uses apples to create its wines but does so using only organic methods.

The Clare Valley is rich in fossil remains, most interesting are those found at Redbanks Conservation Park, near Burra, where have been found Australia’s best diprotodon (giant wombat) fossils. Some of these can be seen at the Burra Council Office.

Perhaps the Clare Valley’s most interesting town to see is Mintaro, where the abundance of slate has created a most charming town landscape. And nearby is to be found Martindale Hall, built in 1879 by Edmund Bowman. The house was used in the film Picnic at Hanging Rock.

Principal red varieties of the Clare Valley region are Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. The most important white variety is Riesling, with the Clare Valley regarded as its natural Australian home.