The "home of Australian wine diversity."
p>Key varieties: chardonnay, pinot noir, shiraz/syrah, cabernet, riesling, fortifieds
"Victoria is the second smallest state but is home to more regions and individual wineries than any other state in Australia. It also has the greatest diversity of regional and site climates, which allows for the production of virtually every imaginable wine style from fine sparkling wine, high quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, age-worthy Cabernet, savoury Shiraz and the historic fortified wines of Rutherglen.
In the 1880s Victoria was Australia’s largest wine producing state. The ebb and flow of prosperity due to gold mining and the eventual outbreaks of Phylloxera put a temporary halt to production in many areas. A resurgence of interest was reignited in the 1970s.
Victoria is tucked into the south-eastern corner of the Australian mainland. It has many diverse regions. The warm-climate regions span the northern and western rim of Victoria and include the Murray Darling, Swan Hill and Rutherglen, which has carved a reputation for unique fortified wine styles such as Muscat. These wines boast hedonistic sweet fruit flavours concentrated through long dry autumns.
Victoria’s other wine regions are general cooler than those of the States to the north and west. One example is the Yarra Valley region, just half an hour’s drive from Melbourne, which produces Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines of elegance and delicacy." - Wine Australia
Map courtesy : James Halliday’s Wine Atlas of Australia (Hardie Grant Books 2008)
