Victoria Flashcards
The smallest and coolest state in the Australian Mainland?
Victoria
Oldest wine region in Victoria?
The Yarra Valley GI
Yarra Valley soil, grapes, producers
Moët & Chandon saw the Yarra Valley’s promise; they started the Australian Domaine Chandon here in 1987. Mount Mary
In addition to Pinot Noir, elegant styles of Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Shiraz (often co-fermented with Viognier, and generally called “Syrah”) are encouraging.
Two distinct soil types—grey-brown sandy loam and red basalt-derived soils—divide the valley, and as producers continue to match soil, grape, and the wide diversity of altitude and site, Yarra Valley wines will continue to improve.
The Mornington Peninsula GI terroir and grapes
a sliver of land to the south of Melbourne that encloses the Port Phillip Bay, is an even cooler, windier region and one of Australia’s most profoundly maritime climates. Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay thrive; much of the GI is too cool for late-ripening grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon.
The 3 Victoria Inland Zones and climate
North East Victoria
North West Victoria -hottest
Central Victoria
continental climate, diurnal temperature shift
Northwest Victoria zone - 2 GIs & plantings
Murray Darling
Swan Hill
shared between Victoria and the state of New South Wales
Irrigation necessaryVineyards are dominated by Chardonnay and Shiraz and are generally industrial in scope, threatened by Australia’s recent water woes.
Central Victoria GIs & Grape
Shiraz
Bendigo, Heathcote, and Goulburn Valley GIs
What is Tahbilk?
Phylloxera spelled disaster for many wineries in Victoria, yet Tahbilk, a compelling producer in the Nagambie Lakes subregion of Goulburn Valley, protected its vineyards from the pest and today produces a flagship Shiraz from vines planted in 1860. The estate also boasts the oldest Marsanne vines in Australia, and possibly the world.
Goulbourn Valley subregion?
Nagambie lakes, home to Tahbilk
North East Victoria Zone GIs
Rutherglen
Glenrowan
Rutherglen and Glenrowan styles?
A fortified “Topaque” (formerly “Tokay”) style is produced from Muscadelle grapes. Rutherglen’s aged, fortified Brown Muscat (Muscat à Petits Grains Rouge) wines are incredibly rich, sweet, and raisinated, with the more mature wines displaying marked rancio character.
What is the The Muscat of Rutherglen Network?
The Muscat of Rutherglen Network, a producers’ syndicate established in 1995, has developed a voluntary four-tier classification system for the wines based on age, sweetness, and complexity. The ages and residual sugar ranges for each category are indicative of each classification, but not absolute. Producers are responsible for classifying their own wines, based on taste alone, and member wines are denoted by the inclusion of a stylized “R” logo on the label.
Coastal Victoria Terroir and coastal areas that showcase a range of terroir through Pinot Noir
Coastal Victoria is cooled by sea breezes blowing up from Antarctica, and the Port Phillip zone surrounding the city of Melbourne has a cool maritime climate, experiencing winter average temperatures lower than Bordeaux or Burgundy. A genuine range of depth, distinction and style is evident in the Pinot Noir wines of the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, and the warmer Geelong region within Port Phillip, as well as those from the coastal Gippsland zone to the east.
Victoria Zones
Central Victoria Gippsland North East Victoria North West Victoria Port Phillip Western Victoria
Port Phillip Zone Important GIs
Geelong (warmer)
Mornington Peninsula
Yarra Valley
