Perhaps the finest and best known region for table wines of Australia is the Barossa Valley. "The Napa Valley of Australia," it is located north and west of Adelaide, in South Australia. This isn't to say that no other region of Australia produces comparable wines, because several wineries in several other regions do that. It's just that Barossa Valley has become the established leader for the country as of this moment. (Wine/Appellations)

Just north of Adelaide, in South Australia, is the wine producing zone of Barossa. This region, long considered the heart of the Australian wine industry, includes the Barossa Valley floor as well as the higher Eden Valley, because both are situated in the Barossa Range. Penfolds, Orlando, Wolf Blass, and Yalumba all have huge winemaking facilities here. The warm, inland districts produce vast amounts of ripe fruit for big, ripe wines. Production is beefed up with the truckloads of fruit that is shipped in from less expensive growing regions. Of course, these bottlings cannot use the famous Barossa name. Wines that are made with fruit from different zones fall under the “umbrella” appellation of Southeastern or South Australia.

More white grapes are planted here than red surprisingly, but in a side-by-side comparison most whites are left in the dust. And there is enough dust to go around. Unfortunately, this is not the case with water. As in the rest of Australia, water is scarce, and drip irrigation is key. Barossa Shiraz, thanks to visionary, and fifth-generation Barossan Peter Lehmann, has been saved from extinction as the big companies rolled into the area looking to fulfill the demand for light, fruity, quaffable whites. He stuck to his guns, called in favors with the local growers, and managed to save more than a few vineyards from the inevitable replanting. The Barossa style of Shiraz is now iconic: big, brawny, super-ripe, and almost black in color. (Wine/Appellations)