Pouring New Wines into Old Wineskins? Sub-regional Identity and the Case of the Basket Range Festival

Wine sub-regions may have an important yet disproportionate influence on national wine identity and tourism experiences. The Basket Range is a small sub-region within the Adelaide Hills wine region that is becoming influential in Australia’s export wine scene. The Basket Range has a unique sense of ‘place’ which is influenced by certain geographical and several sociological factors including its ‘hands off’ winemaking approach and unique, non-conformist wine identity. These factors are playing an important role in the production of wines which are achieving both domestic and international critical acclaim. This chapter argues that the combination of the terroir of the Basket Range, the unique personalities and narratives of this artisan collective, and the festival design and delivery is ‘new wine’ that may create a tourist ‘Mecca’ for wine tourists. We use a case study of the Basket Range festival to explore identity, place, and experience and the development of sub-regional identity that is driving creativity, innovation, and experiential tourism. We conclude circumspectly however that there is a tension that needs to be managed around regional tourist development. We observe a sub-region with growing international legitimacy yet arguably lacks the infrastructure and resources of the ‘old wineskins’ to attract tourists in the way more established regions do. This is the challenge faced by those who are responsible for tourist destination management and regional tourism development.