Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale wine associations have called on the State Government to extend its border protection proposal to the regions’ geographical indicator zones.

The comments were prompted by the South Australian Government in June when it sought feedback to its proposal to protect 136,000 hectares in the Barossa Valley and 40,000 ha in McLaren Vale from urban development.

Public comment on the proposal closed last month and generated more than 200 responses – some of which call for the inclusion of the Adelaide Hills wine region.

Barossa Grape and Wine Association (BGWA) chief executive Sam Holmes says it is important the proposal includes the region’s GI zones.

“The Barossa GI is an internationally recognised boundary. Establishing another boundary zone in the region would make it confusing to the public,” Holmes said.

The McLaren Vale submission was compiled by a working party made up of representatives from the grapegrowing, winemaking and tourism business community, including McLaren Vale Grape, Wine and Tourism Association chairwoman Pip Forrester.

It has also asked the State Government to extend the protection zones to include the McLaren Vale GI regions to protect historical vineyard sites, such as Hardy’s, and the rural ‘gateway’ to high value tourist precincts.

Adelaide Hills Wine Region outgoing president Sue Bell says it would be a shame if the Adelaide Hills was not protected in the future.

The full story is covered in this month’s issue of Grapegrower & Winemaker, out soon.