Currency Creek Wine Region
Currency Creek – Click to Enlarge
Currency Creek is a wine region in the Fleurieu wine zone in South Australia, on the west side of Lake Alexandrina. The region shares this zone with Kangaroo Island, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale and Southern Fleurieu.
The region received appellation as an Australian Geographical Indication (GI) in 2001 and as of 2018, has a total planted area of 1,022 hectares and is represented by only a small number of wineries.
The region was originally established as a viticultural area in 1969, when Wally and Rosemary Tonkin planted one acre each of Riesling, Grenache, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, and the first vines planted are still contributing to the success of two of the region’s wineries.
Stretching from the coastal village of Port Elliot in the west to Lake Alexandrina in the east, the region is a great spot for tasting wines, watching whales from the coastline or spotting the hundreds of species of birds at Coorong National Park.
Now a well-established wine region with several popular wineries and cellar doors, Currency Creek’s earliest claim to fame was that it was once proposed as the site for the South Australian capital. The Lions Park provides a good, serviced picnic spot beside a spring-fed stream, with one of South Australia’s tallest rail viaducts just a short walk up the valley.
The region is home to the Currency Creek Eucalyptus Arboretum – the only place in the world where you can see over 90% of Australia’s eucalypt species in one place (more than 8,000 trees across 32 hectares).
