Wines of Victoria
Australia is the world’s sixth largest country by land mass. Wine is produced in each of its state and results in about 60 wine regions and 160,000 ha (over 4 times more than New Zealand but only about 20% of the vineyard area in France).
Up until 1960s most Australian wine was fortified. In the early 1950s almost 85% of Australian grapes were used to make fortified wine - by mid 90s this has changed with 90% being used for making table wine. Today Australia offers a huge diversity of styles with the state of Victoria being the most diverse.
Victoria, with capital city Melbourne, is situated in the far South East corner of Australia and is the Southern most state of continental Australia. It has a wine history dating back over 170 years and has the greatest diversity of wine regions and climates resulting in a great diversity of wine styles, from fine and elegant sparkling wine, to fragrant Pinot Noir, elegant Chardonnay, age worthy Cabernet, savoury Shiraz and historic fortified wines of Rutherglen.
Australia has been part of my journey to become a Master of Wine as I won a scholarship to travel there as part of the MW Programme. I thoroughly enjoyed it and met some of the most hospitable people. Australians somehow manage to enjoy life at every level, come across as extremely relaxed but at the same time be very focused in their approach to business. There are certainly some great international success stories coming out of Australia!
Since then, I travelled back alone as a wine buyer but also with family. When travelling with family, we started our trip in Adelaide and drove along the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne, with a couple of overnight stops on the way. We then spent some time in Yarra Valley. I thoroughly recommend this trip if you have a few days to spare. Just don’t rely solely on GPS as you can end up deep in the woodlands – nothing like seeing Koalas in their wild natural habitat though ;-).
In Victoria there are more than 20 wine regions and 600 plus wineries; The sub regions are set apart by various factors but primary it is climate. Many of them are impacted by the cold waters of the Southern Ocean while the inland ones by the mountain ranges.
The most known wine regions internationally are Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley.
Ana Sapungiu MW
Mornington Peninsula
Mornington Peninsula is part of the cool coastal region (part of the ‘Pinot Coast wine route’) and is very close to the icy waters of Southern Ocean. It has a maritime climate with a cool, extended growing season, much longer than those in the inland regions. It has a long history of growing grapes but was only established as a wine region as of late 1970s and received its GI (Geographic Indication) in 1997. It is a young region with mainly family, artisanal wineries. The region gained its reputation for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Pinot Gris and Viognier. This is a region that is not afraid to innovate and experiment - with several styles of Pinot Noir, but generally speaking, very little extraction, delicate, crunchy red fruit, a pure expression of the grape. –vibrant with a savoury undertone.
Yarra Valley
Yarra Valley, North of Mornington and less than 1 hour drive inland from Melbourne, tells a different story. It is surrounded by mountain ranges and has a continental climate with a wide diurnal temperature swing. This reduces vine stress and allows for grapes to retain acidity while having a great level of ripeness. It is Victoria’s oldest wine region and winemaking here dates back to the 1830s. Due to its vast range of hills and valleys and varying microclimates and aspects, it is not unlike Burgundy and results in some great wines with a sense of place; The region is split into the Upper and Lower Yarra; Upper Yarra is cooler and there are more plantings of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Lower Valley has more Shiraz, Cabernet plus recently Nebbiolo, Arneis, Gamay, although Pinot Noir and Chardonnay dominate. Overall, Yarra Valley offers some excellent world class Chardonnay and some high-quality Pinots.
Also to note Rutherglen region, with a continental climate, further inland, about 3 hours from Melbourne, a region with a long wine making history and known for deliciously long-lived fortified wines made from the Muscat grape.
Heathcote, in Central Victoria is gaining popularity for structured and savoury reds, especially Shiraz but with increasing popularity of Spanish and Italian varieties.
The wines of Victoria are well positioned in the context of the new face of Australian wine: artisanal, quality-minded and innovative, yet with a strong link to its historical past and with a great sense of place.
