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The Zone

How the Limestone Coast Wine GI came about

During the early 1990s new international wine laws to protect the traditional wine nomenclature within the EU were muted. The idea was to protect such terms as Claret, Burgundy, Champagne etc. but also the village & vineyard names within.

The treaty would include the non-EU wine countries would also classify and define terms and regions that would be protected.

The Australian Geographical Indication "Limestone Coast" was entered in the Register of Protected Names on 27 December 1996 in response to a direction received by the Registrar from the Presiding Member of the Geographical Indications Committee acting under Section 40Z of the AWBC Act 1980. It really was re-naming the existing “South East of South Australia” and to define using descriptive references.

Features of the LSC Wine GI

The Limestone Coast was classified as a Zone by the Geographic Indication Committee (GIC) of the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation in 1996, and includes vineyards around the towns or districts of Padthaway, Coonawarra, Bordertown, Wrattonbully, Robe, Mt Benson, Penola, Lucindale, Bool Lagoon and Mount Gambier.

Some of these vineyard areas have been classified into wine GI regions. The vineyards not within GI regions of Coonawarra, Mt Benson, Padthaway, Robe or Wrattonbully being classified as LSC Other. See table for the regions & vineyards within the Limestone Coast.

See below table for a guide to the Zone and regions of the LSC.

Zone	Region	Year Declared	Websites
Limestone Coast	Coonawarra	2003	www.coonawarra.org
	Mt Benson	1997	www.mbva.com.au
	Padthaway	1999	www.padthawaywineregion.com
	Robe	2006	www.robe.sa.gov.au
	Wrattonbully	2005	www.wrattonbullywineregion.com
	OTHER	1996	www.penola.com.au www.mountgambierwines.com Vineyard areas without websites. Lucindale / Bool Lagoon Bordertown-Mundulla

For further details regions
http://www.wineaustralia.com/australia/Default.aspx?tabid=1003#map
For individual wineries we recommend the below sites

• www.winebiz.com.au
• www.winediva.com.au

or more specifically;

• Limestone Coast Wine Companies

• Coonawarra
• Mount Benson
• Padthaway
• Penola (I)
• Robe
• Wrattonbully

The Limestone Coast produces nearly one third of all bottle quality wine produced in South Australia.

Recent plantings in the newer areas of the Limestone Coast are starting to produce their first vintages. Over the next few years a range of exciting new wines from both new and established labels are set to emerge. In fact, much of the new high quality Australian wine will be produced from these new areas in the next few years.

What makes our wines unique?

A set of unique geological and climatic characteristics have shaped the Limestone Coast and combined with the experience and knowledge of the winemakers, underpins the premium nature of the wine we produce.

The rocks and sediments that underlie the Limestone Coast play a significant role in making possible such quality wines. Their story starts in prehistory when this part of Australia was covered by ocean. Approximately 15 million years ago the sea retreated but it left behind a legacy - the fossil-bearing Gambier Limestone deposits that form the dominant geology of much of this region.

It is a function of the limestone layer of the vineyard sites that provides the basis for the premium quality wines being produced throughout the Limestone Coast and it is also the common thread that links the differing regions together to comprise one specific wine zone.

Within the zone there are some 15 separate 'dunes' or inland coastlines running north to south that were once the coastal ridges of the gradually receding sea. Founded on limestone, they were formed from the residue of the rich marine life, with various layers of soil left behind during the "ebb and flow" stages of the sea. This combination - the well draining limestone and rich, nutritious soil - along with positive climactic influences, play an important role in producing the special wines that come from the Limestone Coast.

The climate of Limestone Coast region has a healthy continental influence well suited for cool climate grape growing. The most north-eastern vineyard is only 150km from the coast and has an elevation of 80m. The highest vineyard is 90m (in the Naracoorte Range) and lowest is 10m (near Cape Jaffa). The vineyards are fanned by afternoon sea breezes all summer and the cool, slow ripening conditions produce intensely flavoured grapes with unique and complex qualities.

The combination of quality underground water combined with well selected vineyard sites have given the winemakers the right ingredients to work with and the result is a range of red and white wines that are being saluted the world over.

Vital statics

Total Area of Limestone Coast Zone = in excess of 2 million ha.
Total Area Limestone Coast planted to grapes = 15,830 ha.

For further statistical analysis of the Zone we recommend site:

http://www.phylloxera.com.au/statistics/utilisation/2007/

In most years the Limestone Coast Zone produces 25% of the South Australian crush, that is about 10% of the national crush. (Vintage 06 production was nearly 132,000 tonnes)