North East Victoria: Full of Surprises
BY ANGUS HUGHSON |
There are many unspoken rules to the wine game that we learn over time. These rules help us to classify and make sense of the immensely complex natural world. Having started my career in the field of psychology and the study of behavior, I find wine and psychology closely linked. Both brain and terroir are black boxes, with thousands of variables potentially influencing final outcomes. A truly comprehensive understanding of what makes wine or behavior tick will forever remain elusive. That is part of the attraction. In many ways, the world of wine is still a mystery, and an all-encompassing knowledge would undoubtedly take some of the magic away.
One of these irrefutable rules we implicitly learn is the role of climate and its overarching and dominant influence on wine styles. It is nearly impossible to imagine that climate can vary dramatically and almost invert itself within a relatively small area, but that is exactly what can be found in North East Victoria, a region rich with world-class fortified wines, Italian interlopers, stunning Chardonnays and almost everything in between. Comprising a roughly square-shaped area with 100-mile (160 km) sides, North East Victoria is a bridge between Australia’s historic past and a dynamic future.
Dramatic Diversity
North East Victoria consists of four incredibly distinctive wine regions totaling 2,700 hectares under vine. Rutherglen, on the Murray River, is probably the best known, particularly for its remarkable and unique fortified wines. Over a century ago, Rutherglen was also a key engine room for the Australian red wine industry before South Australia began to assert itself. By the early 1900s, Rutherglen gave many European consumers their first taste of the New World, with generously fruited dry red wines made from Shiraz and Petit Sirah (known locally as Durif). Phylloxera then had a dramatic impact, which saw the region pivot to the production of long-aged fortified wines. These wines are well suited to the warm continental climate, with their success bolstered by a British market that had been seduced by their luscious sweetness.
To the south, the climate takes a dramatic turn as alpine influences begin to take hold across three regions clustered together: King Valley, Alpine Valleys and Beechworth.
The high-elevation King Valley vineyards of Whitlands.
King Valley, parts of which are only 30 miles (48 km) from the Victorian ski fields, has a long history of grape-growing thanks to the Italian immigrants who originally settled there. The wines of King Valley come as a surprise to the uninitiated, retaining a strong backbone of acidity due to the genuinely cool alpine climate and elevations up to nearly 3,000 feet (870 m).
There is no better illustration of Australian wine diversity than a tour through North East Victoria. Stretching from the elevated Alpine Valleys to the warmer environs along the Murray River, breathtaking Chardonnays coexist with iconic fortified wines, providing both a glimpse of the past and an exciting future.
