Coriole Vineyards

One hour from Adelaide, within sight of the sea, stand the old farmhouses of Coriole Vineyards. Here the Lloyd family produces wines that do full justice to McLaren Vale while still bringing it new impulses.

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. The first vineyards were planted here in 1919. The winery was founded in 1967 by Hugh and Molly Lloyd, and in 1969 they brought their first wine to market. To this day, the family owns and manages the estate; now Mark and Paul Lloyd hold the reins.

New grape varieties for Australia

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

• Sangiovese
• Fiano
• Piquepoul

The decision in favor of these grape varieties was a long process that also involved much experimentation and some failures with other varieties. The soils of the vineyards consist of red earth with a high lime content, which gives the red varieties a deep color and strong backbone.

The Coriole Vineyards cellar

The baton of the cellar master is passed down in the family from generation to generation; currently Duncan Lloyd is responsible for the family’s barrels. Just as Coriole experiments with grape varieties, cellar techniques are also changed from time to time to explore new approaches. Red wines are mainly fermented openly in steel or concrete tanks, and the cap is punched down by hand. In maturation, a proportion of new oak is used, but certain wines such as the Sangiovese or Redstone Shiraz are aged almost exclusively in used barrels.

In their drive for innovation the Lloyds have of course not forgotten the environment; they have installed a large solar system with 100 kW output, and water treatment is also carried out directly on the estate. The next step is to move towards organic cultivation methods and natural plant protection.