My son lives in Adelaide in South Australia, a state with a large and varied range of wine regions, many within easy reach of the city. These include the Barossa, McLaren Vale, the Clare Valley, the Eden Valley and the Adelaide Hills. Apologies to members who may be familiar with the area, but Adelaide is not often on a British itinerary.

I want to share with you some experiences of the Adelaide Hills region and the recent bush fire disaster there. The Adelaide Hills rise up directly east of Adelaide, reaching about 3000 feet in altitude, and are visible from my son’s house. Altitude, combined with proximity to the ocean, results in a cool climate region, in Australian terms. It is a scenically very beautiful area and also famous for its orchards, particularly of cherries and apples, cheese production (eg “Udder Delights” and the Woodside Wrights) and fine dining, often in restaurants attached to wineries.

The majority of vineyards are quite small family businesses, many of which were established in the 1980s and ‘90s, as “boutique” wineries. Many have ‘cellar doors’ where you can taste wines and buy directly. They benefit from the local conditions to produce varietals which prefer a cooler climate, such as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Grüner Veltliner, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and a richer, medium bodied style of Shiraz, which they sometimes call Syrah to reflect the more European style.

When I arrived in Adelaide in early January 2020, there was only a hint of smoke in the city from the bush fires which were still burning in the Hills, but by then there were also catastrophic fires on Kangaroo island to the South, devastating the rare wildlife, as well as their vineyards and claiming two people’s lives.

The fires in the Adelaide Hills were at their height just before Christmas, with December 20th the worst day, but they continued to burn for weeks. It was estimated that a third of the Adelaide Hills vineyard production was wiped out by the fires, particularly affecting the area around Cudlee Creek, Lenswood and Woodside, where many of the smaller enterprises are located.

The fires destroyed winery buildings, cellar doors and restaurants and family homes, but perhaps the most disastrous of all was the destruction of the vines themselves. At that time of year there are densely green, large canopies of vines and one might not expect them to burn easily but the fire just went right through them. Unlike a frost or disease which might wipe out production for a season, it takes about 7 years to rebuild a vineyard. Some damaged vines, initially thought totally destroyed have come back to life with irrigation but many vineyards were lost, along with their family homes.

What happened then was a remarkable response at the official, community and personal level. There were widespread “benefit“ events, state and federal funding and individual support for the many sectors which had been impacted by the fires. The Adelaide daily paper ran a major campaign. The wineries asked people to buy up the stocks of wine available from past vintages in order to fund rebuilding. I have a favourite independent wine shop in Adelaide, – East End Cellars,(see below,)where they were eager to support my wish to buy wine from affected wineries, which in my case were Vinteloper (www.Vinteloper.co.au) and Turon (www.turonwines.com.au).

Australians were encouraged to visit the cellar doors and vineyard restaurants as soon as they re-opened. However, no sooner had some managed to get straight enough to open, when they were closed again by the Covid lockdown, which lasted until May in South Australia. The state and international borders have remained closed since then, which may actually have assisted the wineries as tourism and buying locally has been very much encouraged.

Few of the boutique wineries export their wines overseas, so those are rarely available in the UK. However, Majestic had a Bushfire Fundraiser selling rare vintages from the very badly damaged Bird in Hand,(Red Winemaker of the Year at the 2019 International Wine Challenge), with profits going to the South Australian Country Fire Service. (www.birdinhand.com.au). Wine Direct (www.winedirect.co.uk) have wines from Bird in Hand and Pike and Joyce, also fire affected.

There are plenty of Adelaide Hills wines available in the UK, sometimes from medium sized businesses whose main production may be elsewhere but who have vineyards in the Hills. I note that the Wine Society has Adelaide Hills chardonnays from Wirra Wirra (HQ McLaren Vale) and Bleasdale (Langhorne Creek.) Majestic have wines from Shaw and Smith (an excellent producer), Petaluma and Kangarilla Road. However, please note that these wines are generally not for casual quaffing and have a price tag which reflects their quality!

Please do buy Adelaide Hills wines. The chardonnays have nothing to do with those big fat oily Aussie chardies of yesteryear! And by buying them you may also be helping very committed wine makers and families to rebuild after a frightening and disastrous year in which their lives and livelihoods have been put at risk, – followed by Covid.