SA vineyards fly the flag for Aussies on global top-50 destinations list

Three South Australian vineyards – Penfolds Magill Estate, Henschke, and d’Arenberg – are on the world’s top-50 wine tourism destinations list, The Australian reports.

The World’s Best Vineyards list aims to highlight the sheer diversity across both established and emerging wine tourism destinations. It is voted by 600 global wine and travel experts and published by UK’s William Reed group.

The Henschke family’s Eden Valley estate in South Australia, home to some of Australia’s oldest and most cherished vineyards, including Hill of Grace and Mount Edelstone, came in at number 25 on the list, which was released overnight at the Schloss Johannisberg winery in Rheingau, Germany.

Described as Australia’s “very own Willy Wonka of wine”, Chester Osborn’s family McLaren Vale estate d’Arenberg was ranked 31 for its estate “brimming with personality that nonetheless respects a 109-year heritage that places it among the country’s prestigious First Families of Wine”.

The famed Penfolds Magill Estate, close to Adelaide, took up the third Australian spot in the top 50 at number 37, winning praise for its ‘Ultimate Penfolds Experience’ that explains its whole philosophy, from the cottage through the vineyards to the underground cellars, finishing in a private tasting room with an array of the estate’s most sought-after wines.