- Image courtesy of South Australia Tourism

The Clare Valley occupies the same special place in my heart as does Tuscany: if I were to live elsewhere in Australia, I would wish it to be in the Clare; elsewhere in the world, Tuscany. They share the same softness, the same intimacy, the same palpable sense of history, the same lack of twentieth-century pressure. Tuscany has these characteristics in greater abundance, no doubt, but that in no way diminishes the particular appeal of the Clare Valley. Mick Knappstein put it beautifully when he said; ‘there are only two kinds of people: those who were born in Clare, and those who wish they were born in Clare.’ He, of course, is in the former category; I am in the latter.

The feeling stems in part from its abundant stone buildings (banks, halls, houses, wineries, farm houses and sheds); in part from its convoluted geography, ever promising a little creek or a spring, though not always providing it; in part from the interplay between eucalyptus and vines; in part from its people; and in part from its surrounding districts, notably Mintaro (with such wonderful places as The Magpie and Stump Hotel and Martindale Hall) and Burra (the old copper mining town with its unique terraces of miners’ cottages, now converted to bed and breakfast accommodation).

Clare was founded by an extraordinary Englishman, John Horrocks, when he established Hope Farm in 1840 and planted the first vines. Minerals provided the first surge in population: copper was discovered at Burra in 1845 and at Wallaroo and Moonta between 1859 and 1861. When the first flush of minerals was depleted, the wheat boom started, creating great wealth in a short time.High-quality slate was discovered a Mintaro, and in 1885 the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited was formed to mine silver at Broken Hill. Clare was the town through which much of the trade and the food (and the people) generated by these developments passed: it became known as ‘The Hub of the North’.

Vineyards (and wineries) grew steadily. Sevenhill planted its first vines in 1852; those of Spring Vale (later to become Quelltaler) were planted in 1853. By 1890 there were 100 hectares of vineyards. But expansion (at a rate reminiscent of the late 1960’s in the Hunter Valley) lifted hectarage by almost 500 percent in the next seven years. By 1897 there were 580 hectares under vine, and in 1903 the Stanley Wine Company produced 450 000 litres of wine (mostly exported to London), the same quantity of Penfolds. The nineteenth-century wineries disappeared. The Stanley Wine Company and Quelltaler dominated production, but Sevenhill and Wendouree both continued to make and market fortified and red table wines to a small but appreciative market.

The 1980’s saw significant corporate investments and ownership changes. Hardy’s now owns Stanley Leasingham, Mildara Blass owns Quelltaler Estate and both Wolf Blass and Penfolds have established major vineyards on the Polish Hill River side of the valley. But the atmosphere has not changed. And the Clare Valley vignerons remain one of the most dedicated and harmonious of groups. One of many achievements has been the annual wine and food weekend held in May, at which the public is given the rare opportunity of tasting the weeks-old wines from the current vintage (on the Saturday) and touring the wineries on the Sunday, with a familiar format that was in fact pioneered by the Barossa Valley and copied by many others (when each winery teams up with a prominent local or Adelaide restaurant to provide a matched glass of wine and small plate of food).

But whenever you visit the Clare Valley, you will be assured of an especially warm welcome and will be seduced by its gentle beauty. - by James Halliday  www.winecompanion.com.au

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