Hilltops

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HILLTOPS

NSW / COOL CLIMATE WINE REGION

The Hilltops wine region can be found hugging the slopes of the Great Dividing Range in NSW, anchored around the towns of Young and Harden.

A stunning landscape of classic Australian farmland, the area is one of the most exciting wine regions of NSW, producing Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon wines of particularly high quality.

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FACTS ABOUT HILLTOPS

On the slopes of the Great Dividing Range, the Hilltops wine region provides cool-climate and high altitude conditions for winemaking.

Latitude: 34° South

Altitude: 450m

Growing Season Rainfall: 450-660m

Mean January Temperature: 22.5° Celsius

Harvest: Late March - May

Principal Grape Varieties: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay


The area was first planted to vines as far back as the 1860’s, when Croatian immigrants established vineyards for the refreshment of those involved in the gold mining industry. However the commercial viticulture industry took hold in the early 1980’s with the establishment of the Barwang vineyard. Since that time, McWilliam’s have been a key driving force in the growth and development of the area as a premium wine region.

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Since the 1980’s the region has gone from strength to strength. The cool climate conditions, high altitude and diurnal temperature fluctuations provide a perfect environment for the production of premium wines, in particular of the Cabernet and Shiraz varieties.