Swan Hill
Straddling both sides of the Murray River at the heart of a fertile agricultural region between Mildura and Echuca, and sitting immediately south of the Murray Darling GI is the Swan Hill region.
The GI is 2,741 km2 in size and has a total of 2,211 hectares of vineyards. The main varieties grown in the region are Chardonnay, Shiraz, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
2,211 ha
Total Vineyard Area across both VIC and NSW
-35.668
Latitude (southernmost point)
47-129m
Altitude
177mm
Growing season rainfall
Cabernet Sauvignon
The region produces Cabernet of great colour with an attractive mix of berry aromas and a medium-weight, berry-flavoured palate.
Chardonnay
This wine has a soft, melony, peachy easy-to-drink style to be consumed generally within two years of vintage or soon afterwards.
Shiraz
These are smooth, medium-bodied fruity reds are usually best drunk within two years. They represent excellent value for money.
Top varieties grown in Swan Hill
Climate
- Swan Hill is an undeniably hot region, though marginally cooler than Murray Darling and with a slightly higher annual rainfall. This gives Shiraz, for example, a budburst date five days later, a flowering date 11 days later and a ripening period eight days later.
- Some varieties of wine grapes in the Swan Hill region have a delayed harvest of up to two weeks compared to the Murray Darling.
Soil
- Like the Murray Darling region to the north-west, this flat area straddles the Murray River and has red-brown loamy sands (calcareous earths), which range in pH from neutral to alkaline.
- This is a relatively arid region with soil structures of limestone, marine sands and clays associated with the Miocene sea overlain by lacustrine (from a lake), fluviatile (from a river) and aeolian (wind borne) deposits, which have built up over cycles of stable and unstable periods of history. They are more than 90 metres deep.