Margaret River vs Coonawarra
Two maritime-influenced regions with almost the same vineyard area, one in Western Australia's far south-west and one in South Australia's south-eastern corner: in Wine Australia's 2025-26 Regional Snapshots, Chardonnay led Margaret River's 2026 crush at 30 percent, while Cabernet Sauvignon made up 60 percent of Coonawarra's.
Wine Australia places Margaret River in the far south-west corner of Western Australia and Coonawarra in the south-eastern corner of South Australia, on the Limestone Coast, and names Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay among the main varieties of both. Its 2025-26 Regional Snapshots, published July 2026, give the two regions almost the same vineyard area (5,725 hectares and 5,784 hectares, from the National Vineyard Scan 2020), but a very different mix: red varieties are 50 percent of Margaret River's plantings and 92 percent of Coonawarra's. The comparison turns on climate, soil and history: a wetter maritime climate on gravelly loam over granite and gneiss, where the first modern commercial vineyard was planted in 1967, against a cooler region with lower annual rainfall, on thin terra rossa over limestone, whose first vintage came in 1895.
Wine Australia's region page gives the Margaret River GI as 2,137 km2 with 5,725 hectares of vineyards (no year given); its 2025-26 Regional Snapshot lists the size as 2,640 km2 and puts the region at 4 percent of national and 51 percent of Western Australian vineyards. The Margaret River Wine Association describes a long, narrow region running 110 kilometres north to south and 27 kilometres west to east, with its northernmost point 230 kilometres from Perth, hugged by the Indian Ocean on the north and west and the Southern Ocean to the south.
Wine Australia's region page gives the Coonawarra GI region as 398 km2 with 5,784 hectares of vineyards (no year given); its 2025-26 Regional Snapshot lists the size as 400 km2 and puts the region at 4 percent of national and 7 percent of South Australian vineyards. The Coonawarra Vignerons describe the cigar-shaped strip of terra rossa that defines the region as 'just 27 kilometres long and two clicks wide'.
Wine Australia says Margaret River 'has the most marked maritime climate of any region in Australia in terms of rainfall', notes a low diurnal temperature range that leads to very even heat accumulation, and likens the overall climate to Bordeaux in a dry year. Its 2025-26 Regional Snapshot, using Bureau of Meteorology data, gives 1961-1990 averages of 20.5°C mean January temperature, 1,056 mm annual rainfall, 245 mm October-April growing season rainfall and 1,785 growing degree days (GDD); the 2025-26 season recorded 21.2°C, 1,028 mm, 205 mm and 1,933 GDD. The Margaret River Wine Association calls the climate classically Mediterranean, with warm to hot, dry summers, mild, wet winters and cooling afternoon sea breezes common in the growing season.
Wine Australia says Coonawarra experiences a maritime influence due to upwelling of cold ocean currents at certain times of the year, and lists cold winters, cool summer night temperatures and consistent cloud cover. Its 2025-26 Regional Snapshot, using Bureau of Meteorology data, gives 1961-1990 averages of 19.4°C mean January temperature, 632 mm annual rainfall, 248 mm growing season rainfall and 1,441 GDD; the 2025-26 season recorded 21.6°C, 672 mm, 256 mm and 1,484 GDD. The Coonawarra Vignerons give a winter (June to August) daily average of 9.8°C and say spring frosts must be closely monitored and prevented.
Wine Australia describes the ridge from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin as predominantly gravelly loam on granite and gneiss, with low overall water holding capacity. The Margaret River Wine Association dates the region's granite and gneiss rocks to between 1,130 and 1,600 million years old, identifies ten main soil type groupings, and puts Forest Grove soils (ironstone gravels) at 45 percent of vineyard area and Mungite (sandy duplex) soils at 29 percent.
Wine Australia describes Coonawarra as a flat region famous for its terra rossa soils, a thin iron-oxide based topsoil over limestone. The Coonawarra Vignerons describe the terra rossa as a permeable light clay averaging 50 centimetres deep over a limestone base that lets water drain freely, with a permanent supply of pure underground water from the limestone aquifer.
Wine Australia's 2025-26 Regional Snapshot lists the top five varieties in Margaret River's 2026 tonnes as Chardonnay (30 percent), Sauvignon Blanc (19 percent), Cabernet Sauvignon (16 percent), Shiraz (11 percent) and Semillon (9 percent). It estimates 19,669 tonnes crushed in 2026 at an average yield of 3.4 tonnes per hectare, a crush 30 percent below 2025. The Margaret River Wine Association says over forty different grape varieties are planted in the region.
The same 2025-26 Snapshot lists Coonawarra's top five in 2026 tonnes as Cabernet Sauvignon (60 percent), Shiraz (21 percent), Merlot (7 percent), Chardonnay (6 percent) and Sauvignon Blanc (3 percent). It estimates 37,083 tonnes crushed in 2026 at an average yield of 6.4 tonnes per hectare, a crush 5 percent above 2025. Wine Australia notes that up until the 1950s Shiraz was the main variety grown in Coonawarra; the Coonawarra Vignerons record 93 hectares of vineyards in 1952, including 66 hectares of Shiraz and 3 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Wine Australia calls Cabernet Sauvignon the hero variety for many in Margaret River, often blended with Merlot, medium to full-bodied with earthy, gravelly characters and ripe cassis and violet aromas. The Margaret River Wine Association describes the Cabernets as medium bodied, very perfumed and elegant, with powdery, emery-fine tannins and balanced acidity, and says many vineyards are based on Western Australia's heritage Houghton clone. For Chardonnay it points to the heritage Gingin clone, on which many vineyards are based, and it names a Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc blend, often fermented in stainless steel, as the region's own distinctive white blend.
Wine Australia describes Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon as medium to full-bodied, with cassis, blackberry, plum and dark cherry flavours and firm but plush tannins. It calls Merlot a very successful blending partner for Cabernet Sauvignon without a long tradition in the region, describes Coonawarra Shiraz as medium-bodied with spice and raspberry-toned fruit, and says blending Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon is a Coonawarra tradition.
The Margaret River Wine Association traces the modern industry to scientific research: Dr Harold Olmo, invited to Western Australia in 1955, whose survey outlined the fine wine potential of the south-west, then two reports by Dr John Gladstones in 1965 and 1966. Two medical doctors, Tom Cullity and Bill Pannell, then planted Vasse Felix (1967) and Moss Wood (1969), and the association credits Dr Cullity with the first modern commercial vineyard, at Vasse Felix; they were followed by Cape Mentelle (1970), Cullen Wines (1971), Sandalford (1972) and Leeuwin Estate, Woodlands and Wrights (1973); by 1980 there were 20 vineyards, and there were 164 wine producers at the region's fiftieth anniversary in 2017.
The Coonawarra Vignerons date the region's wine history to John Riddoch's fruit colony of 1890 and its first vintage in 1895, the Coonawarra Vineyards Claret made by Frederick Wood. Riddoch's tri-gabled stone winery is today Wynns Coonawarra; David Wynn bought it with its vineyards in 1951, the Redman family launched its Rouge Homme label in 1952, and Penfolds purchased 16 hectares in 1957.
The Australian Geographical Indication 'Margaret River' was entered in the Register of Protected Names on 30 October 1996, as a region within the GI 'South West Australia' in Western Australia. The Margaret River Wine Association says it was one of the first three Australian wine regions to have its boundaries legally defined, with the Gladstones Line at longitude 115°18'E forming the eastern boundary. It has no official subregions; the six Dr Gladstones proposed in 1999 (Yallingup, Carbunup, Wilyabrup, Treeton, Wallcliffe and Karridale) have not been approved as GIs by the Australian Government.
The Australian Geographical Indication 'Coonawarra' was entered in the Register of Protected Names on 6 January 2003, within the zone 'Limestone Coast' in South Australia. The Coonawarra Vignerons' timeline says the boundary came after 7 years of debate and was settled in the Federal Court, slightly expanding it to the north, south and east to accommodate vineyards on established terra rossa soil; their regional history describes nearly a decade of arbitration. Under Wine Australia's blending rules, the same 85 percent minimum applies to a single GI claim in either region.
For the year ending June 2026, Wine Australia's Snapshot records 3,085 thousand litres of exports by Margaret River GI content (0.5 percent of Australian exports), an estimated 22 percent of the crush exported, and bottled exports claiming Margaret River (alone or in blends) on the label of 1,657 thousand litres worth A$24.0 million, at an average A$14.48 per litre. The UK (22 percent) and China mainland (21 percent) were its largest bottled export markets.
For the same year, the Snapshot records 6,238 thousand litres of exports by Coonawarra GI content (1.0 percent of Australian exports), an estimated 24 percent of the crush exported, and bottled exports claiming Coonawarra (alone or in blends) on the label of 2,131 thousand litres worth A$50.34 million, at an average A$23.62 per litre. China mainland (37 percent) and the UK (17 percent) were its largest bottled export markets.
On Wine Australia's 2025-26 figures, Margaret River has the broader varietal mix: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon together made up 58 percent of its 2026 tonnes, and its wine association points to a Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc blend alongside Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Coonawarra is the narrower, red-focused one, with red varieties at 92 percent of plantings and Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz together at 81 percent of 2026 tonnes. For study, the pair sets a wet-winter maritime climate on gravelly loam over ancient granite and gneiss against a cooler climate with lower annual rainfall on thin terra rossa over limestone, and a 1996 GI registration against a 2003 boundary settled in the Federal Court.
- GI registration: 'Margaret River' entered the Register of Protected Names on 30 October 1996 within the GI 'South West Australia'; 'Coonawarra' entered it on 6 January 2003 within the zone 'Limestone Coast', after a boundary dispute the Coonawarra Vignerons say was settled in the Federal Court.
- Soils: Margaret River is predominantly gravelly loam on granite and gneiss, with Forest Grove ironstone gravels on 45 percent of vineyard area (Margaret River Wine Association); Coonawarra is famous for terra rossa, a thin iron-oxide based topsoil over limestone (Wine Australia).
- Climate (Wine Australia 2025-26 Regional Snapshots, 1961-1990 averages): Margaret River 20.5°C mean January temperature, 1,056 mm annual rainfall and 1,785 GDD; Coonawarra 19.4°C, 632 mm and 1,441 GDD. Wine Australia ties Coonawarra's maritime influence to upwelling of cold ocean currents.
- 2026 crush (Wine Australia 2025-26 Regional Snapshots): Margaret River's top variety was Chardonnay at 30 percent of tonnes, with Cabernet Sauvignon at 16 percent; Coonawarra's was Cabernet Sauvignon at 60 percent, with Shiraz at 21 percent. Red varieties are 50 percent of Margaret River's plantings and 92 percent of Coonawarra's.
- History: Coonawarra's first vintage was the 1895 Coonawarra Vineyards Claret (Coonawarra Vignerons); Margaret River's first modern commercial vineyard was Dr Tom Cullity's Vasse Felix, planted in 1967, after Dr John Gladstones' 1965 and 1966 reports (Margaret River Wine Association).
Sources and last verified
Sources: https://www.wineaustralia.com/getmedia/8ed0b6af-3648-4edc-b2a6-76dfc8772315/MI_Margaret-River-Region-Snapshot-2025-26.pdf, https://www.wineaustralia.com/getmedia/d6752f07-dcfb-43ee-b6d4-504e52f2e971/MI_Coonawarra-Region-Snapshot-2025-26.pdf, https://www.wineaustralia.com/market-insights/regions-and-varieties/western-australia-wines/margaret-river, https://www.wineaustralia.com/market-insights/regions-and-varieties/south-australia-wines/coonawarra, https://margaretriver.wine/history/, https://coonawarra.org/timeline/, https://margaretriver.wine/geology-soils/, https://margaretriver.wine/climate/, https://coonawarra.org/our-landscape/, https://margaretriver.wine/wine-varieties/, https://www.wineaustralia.com/labelling/geographical-indicators/labelling-gi-margaret-river, https://www.wineaustralia.com/labelling/geographical-indicators/labelling-gi-coonawarra, https://coonawarra.org/2018/02/coonawarra-story/, https://www.wineaustralia.com/getmedia/fb571392-5d0c-4f9e-95fd-b7501076280a/REG_BlendingRules_v2.pdf. Last verified 2026-09-28.
