Limestone Coast

Between Melbourne and Adelaide, this cool climate wine region is ripe for discovery, writes SAMANTHA PAYNE.

- 

Peering out the window of a tiny prop plane, the beauty of the Limestone Coast region takes hold. So awe-inspiring is the vast landscape below, it overshadows the terror of feeling every bump, jump and shudder of turbulence on the 45-minute flight south from Adelaide.

The Limestone Coast is an emerging wine region steeped in Australian wine history – a contradiction in terms I know. Home to the famed Coonawarra, with its first vineyards planted in 1890 and Australia’s two newest GIs (Geographical Indicators) for the vineyards planted in Wrattonbully and Robe in 2005 and 2006, respectively.