The wine region of Perricoota is centred on Moama in New South Wales, immediately across the Murray River from the larger and better-known town of Echuca in Victoria.
James Malden, one of the region´s first squatters, named his property Perricoota in 1840. His rival Henry Hopwood founded Echuca and planted one of the first vineyards in the area in 1858 which became the centre of an Echuca wine business which flourished for a few years until his death 1868. By 1860-1870 the larger "stations" on the New South Wales side of the river began to be subdivided and smaller farm holdings became the norm. The modern story of Perricoota began in 1993 and today there are 19 growers, but no wineries in the region.
White wines are made from Chardonnay. Red varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz. The grapes grow on an area of 240 ha which is predicted to double by the year 2000. Because the region is still very young, its too early to say anything about the principal wine style, but there will be probably be white and red table wines of good quality.
The landscape is a typical Australian inland riverine landscape of flat terrain and remnants of river red gum forests. Its soils are generally red clay loams of good texture anf fair good moisture-holding capacity. The temperature is pretty high but its still cooler than Murray-Darling and Swan Hill. Frosts and equinoctial winds can cause problems during spring.
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