The Buyer | Victoria Wine Part 3: Joe Wadsack lifts the lid on the “cool stuff:…"

So here we are, the third and final part of my tour of Australia’s most diverse and exciting wine state.

We have travelled from the cool mountainous appellations, starting with Henty to the west, through the warmer Mediterranean climate in the north, encompassing the world famous Victorian fortified gems of Rutherglen and Glenrowan, finishing in the extreme mountainous climates of Beechworth and the Alpine Valleys to the east. To the well-informed wine enthusiast these regions are responsible for many cult wines, from Crawford River Riesling and Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz to the west to Giaconda and Sorrenberg Chardonnays in Beechworth.

However, if Victoria is internationally renowned for any wines, it is the cool-climate Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs surrounding Port Philip Bay, with the Bellarine Peninsular of Geelong to the west of the bay and going anti-clockwise to the Mornington Peninsula, behind which we find, to the far south east, the giant coastal region of Gippsland, bringing us back to Melbourne and its closest wine district, the Yarra Valley, stretching from Healesville, about 40 miles east of the centre of Melbourne almost all the way to Ringwood, within the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne itself.

I love Melbourne. It truly is one of the world’s great metropolises. It is very easy on the eye, with insane and beautiful skyscrapers blended in with striking Victorian red brick architecture and attractive inner-city parks. The food scene is, you could argue, second to none in the world, and it has a sophisticated cocktail scene to rival London and New York.

Melbourne’s big and growing fast. While I was visiting earlier this year the news was all about the first official census to show that Melbourne is in fact more populated than Sydney. Five million inhabitants, with over seven million predicted by the end of the decade. When I first came it was a shade over three million in the nineties. I can only describe its growth like Tokyo in the 1980s. It’s just staggering.

Geelong

Let’s take a look at Geelong first. A sizeable region but established as a fine wine stalwart really only because of the cosmically stunning wines of Gary Farr, at his humbly named, By Farr estate. Then there is Bannockburn Vineyards and Scotchman’s Hill closer to the bay.

Likewise, the giant area of Gippsland to the south-east is twice the size of mainland Wales, but is famous, at present, for the extraordinary wines of one small winery, and what a winery it is, Bass Philip. If Philip Jones was responsible for starting a truly global following for a small Pinot Noir winery in the middle of nowhere, then new owners Famille Fourrier, Burgundy überlords to the rich and famous, can only make the wines even rarer and more eye-wateringly expensive.

There are also great wines being made by the winemaking talents of William Downie and Patrick Sullivan.

Yarra Valley

Big powerful cities have a habit of cropping up near goldmines, and Yarra Valley is both the oldest wine region in the state and its earliest source of gold. The winery at Yeringberg was established in the 1860s with Yering Station being founded as much as 30 years prior.

As a world class wine region though, it was the 1980s when real interest began to grow, with the great James Halliday and his wife Susan establishing Coldstream Hills as a wine estate capable of world-beating wines. A wine made in 1988 from the “Rising Chantal” block at the estate came runners up in a global Chardonnay competition, second only to DRC’s Le Montrachet itself. James and Susan hadn’t yet completed building their winery. Not a bad start.

If, indeed, international accreditation was necessary, the Yarra Valley certainly got it when the late great Tony Jordan instructed Moët Hennessey to plant their sparkling jewel Domaine Chandon there. (Pardon the pun.)

Yarra Valley is full of truly wonderful wine estates, which don’t only produce some of Australia’s finest and most elegant wines, but through their proximity to the state capital, offer fantastic hospitality at their various tasting rooms, cafés and restaurants - De Bortoli, Yering Station and Soumah of Yarra Valley, to name but three.

There is genuine value to be found at these estates, amongst and in between the expensive iconic offerings. The wines of Rob Dolan (don’t forget to try his stunning Cabernets) and De Bortoli offer really astonishing value, even at the premium end of their range.

Some, however, are shrines to the art of world-class winemaking, and concentrate on just that.

Dr. Bailey Carrodus, one of the viticultural pioneers of Australia, planted a vineyard back in 1969 called Yarra Yering. It was the first Yarra wine that I tasted, and my parents were the first in the UK to list them in our New Forest restaurant in the early 1990s. The winery is now in the very safe hands of the phenomenally talented Sarah Crowe. The Bordeaux and Syrah blends made at this estate, (called Dry Red No.1 and Dry Red No.2) are in my top 10 favourite wines in the entire continent.

Going from one historical viticultural landmark to another. I managed to make a brief visit to one the founding fathers of the region, Yeringberg. I came here in 1993, and returning 30 years later, I can honestly say that nothing has changed. Yeringberg still produces stellar Chardonnay and one of my favourite quirks of the region, a riveting Roussanne Marsanne blend that can take on any Rhône white and find it wanting.

Mornington Peninsula

And so we come to the end of the Victorian journey. Twenty wine zones discussed and one to go. This leaves us with the most talked about and visited Pinot Noir district in Australia, and for good reason. Mornington Peninsula. My first visit 25 years ago was memorable, with deliciously drinkable wines, but I came away wondering whether there was a limit to their potential. I drank sumptuous, but perhaps obvious and easy Pinots from Stonier, delicious textured whites from Gary Crittenden, then at Dromana Estate made from a curious grape called Arneis and some luscious Chardonnays.

I didn’t have deep enough pockets then to be familiar with the fantastic Paringa Estate wines grown along the red soil summit of the Peninsula’s backbone. I found myself being limited to the wines nearer the shore on alluvial soils.

I was spoiled for choice that day I visited Mornington, starting at Martin Spedding’s magical estate, Ten Minutes by Tractor, so-called because the three founding vineyards were close together, only ten minutes in fact… well you get the idea. He also has one of the finest restaurants (and wine lists) in the state.

Firstly, a warning. His wines aren’t cheap, but they are riveting. His Chardonnays being every bit as incisive and arresting as his Pinot Noirs. His entry level 10X Pinot from 2023 won’t leave you with much change from £40 in a UK independent, but is one of the most convincing examples of the variety I have ever seen in Australia.

True disciples of the cause will enjoy climbing the ladder of evermore pure and focused single site wines, at the summit of which are the utterly sublime Trahere wines. A brooding, clay-rich 2021 Chardonnay that almost pinches you with intensity, and demands your full attention, or the 2022 Pinot Noir, a very convincing, regal, calm pool of self-confidence with incredible density and concentration. Both breathtaking and wearing price tags that are closer to £100 than £50. Frankly, fair, considering the quality.

High on Pinot and life in general I went to lunch at another stunning winery and feeding hole, Paringa Estate, founded by Lindsay McCall in 1968 and now co-run with his son Jamie, who seriously appears to have inherited his dad’s green fingers. Not far from 10 Minutes, the vineyards nestle in a sub valley in Red Hill and make some of my favourite Chardonnays in Australia.

After a lunch made by one of Brett Graham’s former charges from The Ledbury in Notting Hill (what a lunch!), I kept on going back to the rather muscular and Corton like “The Paringa” 2021 Pinot Noir which just became more beguiling with every mouthful. A stunner and no-doubt a 20 year prospect.

I made one more stop before heading to Melbourne for one night prior to being ferried back to Blightly.

The adorable Kate McIntyre MW greeted me warmly at the “so hot right now” Moorooduc Estate. There is a definite shift in vibe here. Where Ten Minutes has grand statement architecture and a destination dining establishment, and Paringa’s feels finely coutured and demands just a little deference and respect due its pioneering heritage, Moorooduc has a wonderful ego-free, old general store and farm shop charm.

I feel wonderfully relaxed and comfortable straight away. The is a sense of artisanal authenticity that clearly flows from Kate’s passion for permaculture, eco-sustainability, and a sense of legacy. Her wines are immediately more approachable in youth and have a precocious immediacy and fruity succulence. This belies the ease at which these wines gain complexity and weight over time.

Kate is a lovely person to pass the time with, as is her dad Richard too. Another Richard, our editor Mr. Siddle indeed, once accurately described him as “a self-taught winemaker and mad scientist”. I wished I could have stayed there all evening talking about their wines, feeding of their irrepressible curiosity and enthusiasm for their craft.

Two things I would point out. The more you pay here, the better the wines get, not always the case, and Richard’s whole bunch Syrah and Pinot Noir are absolutely sensational. I would love to see one 10 years down the line.

Well there you are - 21 wine regions, none quite like the next, offering literally everything from marginal frosty climates to deeply Mediterranean sun and from finely poised, dry sparkling wines and gorgeous fragrant Rieslings to giant reds ready for the winter pot, and some of the finest ports (yeah, I said it) in the world.

Enjoy. More importantly go.

* You can find out more about all its regions at the Wine Victoria website here.

* You can read the first part of Joe Wadsack's report on Victoria wine here.

* And the second part here.