Cowra Wine Region – Click to Enlarge

Cowra – NSW

Cowra is one of three wine regions in the Central Ranges zone of New South Wales. It covers 1250 square kilometres of the Lachlan Valley, including Cowra, Billmari and Canowindra. It shares the Ranges with Mudgee and Orange. Despite being the southernmost region, it is actually the warmest of the three. This is largely due to its lower altitude and an open front to warm winds blowing in from central Australia.

The area was originally planted with Chardonnay in 1973. It has now grown to 932 hectares of vines across more than 40 vineyards. Since this original planting, growth has come in bursts as a handful of larger companies entered the area in the 1990s. Today, the Cowra wine region is renowned for its elegant Chardonnays, crisp Riesling, and distinctive reds.

Cowra has recently made environmental sustainability a priority. Its mission statement is: “To produce wine of regional character with the least environmental impact of any region in Australia.” The area is focused on increasing the use of mulch, including the ‘Compost Cook-Off’ initiative. This is where vignerons compete against each other to make the best compost and promote this to the community. The region has four organic vineyards, which are expected to increase in the coming years.

Cowra’s climate is warm and dry. The growing season rainfall is moderate, but relative humidity is low, reflecting the Continental climate. The vineyards are situated on gentle slopes within two valleys cut into the western side of the Great Dividing Range by the Lachlan and Belubula rivers. The soils are brownish loamy sand to clay loam on the surface, with red clay subsoils. They are moderately acidic and vary from low to moderately fertile.

A visit is 320 km from Sydney, about a 4-and-a-half-hour drive west, over the iconic Blue Mountains, through Bathurst and Blayney.

The original variety planted back in 1973 was the Chardonnay grape, soon followed by Shiraz, Semillon and Cabernet Sauvignon. Cowra wineries certainly still favour the original variety, with Chardonnay accounting for 46% of the region’s grape crush in 2019, with the next largest volume being only 14% Shiraz and 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, followed by 9% Merlot and 5% Malbec.

The principal 5 plantings above, make up for 88% of the varietals in Cowra. The region does however have smaller plantings of Pinot Noir, Semillon, Verdelho, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc.

In more recent times, the new age of growers has produced some excellent wines from different varieties such as Sangiovese, Mourvedre and Tempranillo.