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Australian Wine
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It was the discovery of gold in Victoria in 1851 that first paved the way for a fledgling wine industry in the state. As its economy and population boomed ambitions of vintners soared every bit as high as those of gold diggers, so much so that even as the supply of gold slowly fizzled out, aspiring winemakers began to hire out of work miners to create for them vast underground wine cellars. After a short lull leading up to the 1970’s, the area really began to take off, dragged not far behind as the fortunes of Australian wine on the whole became ever increasingly greater.
By all accounts, Victoria is today right up there with Australia’s important wine regions. Of all of them, Victoria is the smallest and most southern (only the island of Tasmania, off the Victorian coast, is smaller and farther south). With a great variance in climate, terrain, and soil, the region includes Bendigo, Geelong, Glenrowan, Goulbum Valley, Grampians, Macedon, Momington Penninsula, Murray Darling, Pyrenees, Rutherglen, and the Yarra Valley. Spread mostly over those wine districts that fan out directly from the city of Melbourne, these regions are home to more than 250 producers.
Wine StylesIn the Yarra Valley, Geelong, and Momington Peninsula the proximity of the vineyards to the sea allows for successful cultivation of both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. But farther inland, the region is well known for the classics, Australian Shiraz and Cabernet. Although not nearly as big and robust as their Barossa valley counterparts, some of these wines are nonetheless superb values. At around ten dollars you can find a handful of Shiraz or a Shiraz blends that are easy drinking, yet richly dry and with smooth tannins that accompany intense raspberry liqueur, chocolate flavors and subtle tobacco aromas. Muscat is another important vine planted in New South Wales and Northern Victoria. Rich, syrupy, sweet wines, sometimes made with the Spanish solera system, can be found. These are quite often excellent, bringing forth a hauntingly complex array of aromas and flavors that you will not soon forget. Finally, Victoria has always been associated with Australian sparkling wine because Seppelt, one of Australia's largest and most important sparkling producers, is located in the district of Grampians (known in the recent past as Great Western). Although the grapes for Seppelt's sparklers now come from many regions outside Victoria, the link remains.
see also: Clare Valley, Eden Valley, Coonawarra, Barossa Wine,
Best Bang for the Buck Victoria Wines
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