Coriole Vineyards

An hour from Adelaide, within sight of the sea, stand the old farmhouses of Coriole Vineyards. Here, the Lloyd family produces wines that do credit to McLaren Vale while still giving it new impetus.

Coriole Vineyards - The Lloyd Family Welcomes You

The farm was built in 1860 and now forms the center of today's estate with its large garden. in 1919, the first vineyards were planted here. The winery was founded in 1967 by Hugh and Molly Lloyd , in 1969 they launched their first wine. The family still owns and manages the estate today, with Mark and Paul Lloyd holding the reins.

New grape varieties for Australia

Shiraz, one of the most traditional grape varieties in McLaren Vale, accounts for the largest share of the vineyards. The first wine, called "Claret," soon became successful, and Coriole rose in the wine market with grape varieties typical of Australia. After a decade of success, they turned to new goals. Coriole are pioneers in planting Italian grape varieties in Australia, but also special French ones:

• Sangiovese
• Fiano
• Piquepoul

The decision to plant these grape varieties was a long process that also involved a lot of trial and error and some failure with other varieties. The vineyard soils are composed of red soil with high limestone content, giving the red varieties deep color and a strong backbone.

The Coriole Vineyards Cellar

The baton of cellar master is passed down in the family generation after generation, currently Duncan Lloyd is responsible for the family's barrels. Just as Coriole experiments with grape varieties, cellar techniques are changed from time to time to explore new avenues. Red wines are mainly fermented openly in steel or concrete tanks, and the must is steeped by hand. A proportion of new wood is used in aging, but certain wines, such as the Sangiovese or Redstone Shiraz, are aged almost exclusively in used barrels.

The Lloyds, of course, have not neglected the environment in their drive to innovate, so they have installed a large solar array with 100 kW of power, and water treatment is also done directly on the estate. The next advance will be in the direction of ecological planting methods and natural plant protection.