Digging for Gold in Western Victoria

BY ANGUS HUGHSON | NOVEMBER 5, 2024

One of the most fascinating aspects of wine is how each and every bottle, at least in part, reflects not only terroir but also the cultural foundations and personality of its winemakers. A shared history of triumphs and tragedies leaves an individual mark on every country, region, people and its resulting wines. Wines from Bordeaux carry an aristocratic self-assuredness, as does the local populace, which contrasts against the more freewheeling and free-spirited styles of the Southern Rhône.

Australia has its own strong demarcations, although at more of a state than regional level. Within that mix sits Victoria, the Oenotria of the New World, with 21 wine regions shoehorned into the country’s southeastern corner.

Victoria has long been considered Australia’s cultural heart. Less brash than other state capitals, Melbourne was the country’s original home to quality dining and an appreciation for the finer things in life, driven both by immense early wealth thanks to the 1800s gold rush and the city’s rich multicultural heritage. Informed by cooler climate conditions, Victoria is where elegance and subtlety regularly hit their peak in the form of wines that are compact and controlled expressions of variety and place.

But the state is not home to endless acres of vines as far as the eye can see. Victorian regions are more of a step back in time, where grapevine monocultures are rare. Vineyard land is only a part of the mix, set between fields of grain and roaming livestock. Over the last 100 years, industrious producers have discovered the best sites, planting and training vines to create unique local wines.

Victoria's western and central parts are arguably the state’s most historically important. The early gold rushes brought prospectors from around the world to try their luck. This was also a time when immense wealth saw impressive volumes of red Bordeaux, Champagne and, perhaps surprisingly, Sauternes finding their way into Melbourne and across Victoria (Australia still retains a particularly strong taste for Bordeaux’s sweet wines). While a handful of vineyards existed before the gold rush, the industry really took off as the mines ran dry and new Australians, many of whom had arrived from Europe, put down their roots and moved into agriculture—including the planting of vineyards. Some utilized their mining skills; Seppelt, for example, excavated a vast cellar for sparkling wine maturation.

The central and western wine regions of Victoria are vast. Nine total regions contain 6,500 hectares under vine in an area of around 6 million hectares. Climactic variations are extreme. Henty, on the cool southwestern coastline, is exposed to the Great Southern Ocean, differing radically from further north and the warmer continental regions of Goulburn Valley and Heathcote. There’s also a pocket of cooler, high-altitude vineyards in the Strathbogie Ranges. Victoria offers a myriad of microclimates for various grape varieties, but Syrah reigns supreme.

Mount Langhi Ghiran vineyards, including the original old block Shiraz planted in 1969.

160 Years and Counting

For global wine consumers, big and burly Shiraz is Australia’s vinous calling card. Yet this is a relatively modern interpretation of the grape variety that has only taken hold in the last 30 years. A much longer history exists for more midweight Syrah styles, going back over a century. Arguably, central Victoria is ground zero for Australian Syrah, with some vines still in place from early days, including Tahbilk’s 1860 vines, Gervasoni’s 1863 blocks and Best’s’ Nursery Block and Concongella Vineyard from 1858. In the distant past, producers occasionally labeled Central Victorian Shiraz as Burgundy to reflect its lighter weight and more aromatic profile. While local wines have built some muscle since those early days, they still carry a more streamlined shape compared to many of their competitors from South Australia. Syrah is well suited to Victoria’s cool and dry climate, although significant differences exist between wines from the different regions. Other plantings here include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and a host of other alternative varieties, such as Grenache, Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Viognier and Fiano. Still, these newer varieties have yet to significantly stamp their authority on the local wine scene against the might of the local Shiraz.

Some wineries, such as Seppelt and Best’s, never wavered over their long history and retained a loyal clientele thanks to their refined and complex styles. Some of these wines have shown considerable longevity. The local curio of Sparkling Shiraz has a proud history of wines that can flourish for decades in bottle. Seppelt, in particular, has been a beacon of quality in the region for over a century. Some would argue that the modern Victorian Shiraz style may never have built its enviable reputation had it not been for the investment of the Seppelt family (who also had significant assets in the Barossa) from the early 1900s.

These midweight Victorian Syrahs were the benchmark before the red wine boom of the 1980s and the 1990s, but their popularity waned as consumers moved to explore new regions and varieties. However, there has been a renaissance toward these characterful wines in recent years as wine drinkers place increasing value on subtlety over sheer weight and volume. 

While the Seppelt and Best’s wines from the small enclave of Great Western were the early leaders, their successes saw new blood exploring nearby regions, including Heathcote, Pyrenees and the wider Grampians. Somewhat surprisingly, Cognac stalwart Remy Martin also moved into the Pyrenees. Initially drawn by the opportunity for local brandy production under the Chateau Remy label, Remy Martin renamed the winery Blue Pyrenees Estate in the 1980s, shifting to a focus on premium red and sparkling wine. Remy Martin took control of Charles Heidsieck Champagne in the same period and brought some of their knowledge and techniques to regional Victoria, though production of bottle-fermented and sparkling wines in Victoria existed as far back as the 1890s. Remy Martin was not the only international group starting to take notice of central Victoria, with the Goelet family founding Taltarni in the nearby Pyrenees region around the same time they launched Clos du Val in Napa Valley. Trevor Mast from Mount Langi Ghiran was one of the first locals to truly capitalize on the region’s potential. When Mast’s 1994 Langi Shiraz graced the cover of Wine Spectator in 1996 alongside Penfolds Grange and Henschke Hill of Grace, modern Victorian Shiraz was finally on the map. Mount Langi Ghiran remains a leading and dependable voice in the Grampians to this day.

Shiraz hails from four significant regions in central and western Victoria, each with its unique style—Heathcote, Bendigo, Pyrenees and Grampians (which includes Great Western). Heathcote is perhaps the best known, home to the richest and most flavorsome examples. Located on the northern side of the Great Dividing Range, Heathcote is blessed with pockets of some of the world’s most ancient soils, deep red in color and up to 500 million years old. The best vineyards in the region are situated on these rich, red Cambrian beds. While Jasper Hill was one the first modern wineries to uncover this quality terroir, they are now joined by a whole host of vignerons helping to build the region’s reputation as a leading home of Australian Shiraz in a uniquely savory style. Strong diurnal temperature swings drive this profile, a function of the predominantly warm continental climate and the mountain ranges on either side of the region that funnel cooler southerly winds up through the vineyards during the growing season. Bendigo, to the west, does not benefit from the same southerly influence, generating a riper and more generous style, but still retaining some spicy elements.

Various mountain ranges begin to assert their influence as we travel further west and south, first through the Pyrenees and then the Grampians. The climates here cool rapidly, as the vineyards generally sit in the foothills and benefit from the breezes that sweep through the regions. Soils also vary, with granitic influences in the Grampians and loam, sandstone, gravels and quartz in the Pyrenees. This ancient landscape is not overly fertile, which, coupled with dry growing seasons, evokes intense, flavorsome and broody expressions that often improve with at least a couple years of cellar-aging.

The cool rolling hills high up in the Macedon Ranges.

The Deep South

Then, the climate turns almost on a dime. Southern Victoria presents a very contrasting picture, with the Great Southern Ocean offering up a completely different set of conditions without the warmer influences of the country’s interior. Gone are the meager, rocky soils and tough, dry country, here replaced by lush green landscapes and rolling hills. Humidity draws in off the ocean, lending vibrancy to the land and the resulting wines. Shiraz also takes a back seat, with Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir taking center stage.

At the far southwestern corner of Victoria sits the unusual region of Henty, which is one of the coolest on the Australian mainland. It’s a significantly large region yet boasts less than 200 hectares of vines. Henty punches well above its weight, with impressive quality on display from leading producers such as Hochkirch and Crawford River. The region does have its challenges, though, enduring battering winds and storms, but the hardy locals are accustomed to these conditions and ride them out. In particular, Riesling and Pinot Noir are varieties worth tracking down.

Closer to Melbourne, the regions of Geelong and Macedon Ranges take a more Burgundian direction, competing directly with Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Gippsland as reliable homes of serious Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Geelong is the warmer and drier of the two regions and is able to yield quite characterful wines from later-ripening varieties such as Gamay, Shiraz and Viognier. There is unrealized potential here. With sophisticated wines now coming from the likes of Bannockburn and Mulline Vintners, Geelong is very much a region to watch.

Macedon Ranges is a couple of steps ahead thanks to its high altitude and reasonable rainfall, which allows the region to produce haunting Pinot Noir and stellar Chardonnay. Bindi Winegrowers is one of the local stalwarts and was an early mover to the region, with Indian-born civil-engineer-turned-vinegrower Bill Dhillon planting the first blocks in 1988. It was a brave move, as the fickle, elevated Macedon climate is one the very coolest in Australia. In the early years, some vocal local critics refused to believe that the Macedon Ranges could give rise to wines equal to those of more fancied regions, such as Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula. But time and vine age have proven them wrong, as Macedon Ranges is now one of Australia’s leading sources of fine Pinot Noir and particularly Chardonnay. For custodian Michael Dhillon, Bindi is still very much a work in progress, making constant tweaks in pursuit of higher quality and exploring different sites, clones and planting densities on its large property. The recent Block 8 plantings comprise seven clones of Pinot Noir at densities of up to 22,600 vines per hectare.

The clonal mix on the property is particularly interesting. Many of Australia’s premium wines rely on heritage vinestock. The first significant selection was imported in 1832, including the Burgundian MV6 Pinot Noir clone. MV6 purportedly hails from Clos de Vougeot. In recent decades, many Australian winemakers have chosen to plant new Dijon clones, but Dhillon still prefers clones that have adapted to local conditions over time—including MV6 and the P58 Chardonnay, reputedly from Le Montrachet. This is the story for many of Australia’s leading Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, which reference the classics while also creatively utilizing heritage vinestocks to provide a local flavor and a point of difference.

The story of western and southern Victoria is complex, which is not surprising considering its wide range of climats and terroirs. However, the overall refinement of the wines ties these regions together, retaining generosity of texture and flavor across the board and reaffirming Victoria’s deserved place in Australia’s fine wine narrative.

A sunny autumn day at Heathcote's Sanguine Estate.

Vintages

Thanks to the third consecutive La Niña season (also the most intense of the three), 2023 was a challenging vintage across much of Victoria. Significant rainfall and humidity over a cool year presented challenges in getting fruit to full ripeness, also generating disease pressure. High acidity and delicacy of flavor are the key characteristics of the 2023s. Top producers with fastidious viticulture and low yields made the best of a trying season.

The 2022 vintage had a difficult start. Cool, windy and unsettled conditions with localized frost made for less-than-ideal flowering and fruit-set across much of southern Victoria. Rain events to the east created disease pressure. Central Victoria experienced the best conditions of the year, with Heathcote enjoying an outstanding year. Overall, the season remained cool, yielding fresh and vibrant wines.

I tasted most of the wines for this report at home in Sydney in recent months, with a small selection tasted during a short tour through Victoria.

© 2024, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or re-distributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright, but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.

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