South Australia, Victoria and a Bit Beyond

BY JOSH RAYNOLDS | SEPTEMBER 01, 2022 

The sheer diversity of wine styles in greater South Australia is nothing short of mind-bending. Name it, they make it. From bone-dry sparkling wines through nervy whites to some of the world’s richest wines and on to fortified wines that can age for decades, they’re all here. That makes generalizing about this vast swath of territory a fool’s errand. Some of the freshest and most racy Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, from anywhere, are produced in the coolest sectors of Victoria, such as the Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley, and not so far away, in Heathcote, massive and high-octane bottlings of Shiraz are the general rule. The attitude toward Australian wines seems to finally be shifting to what is and has been happening here, albeit slowly. Still, far too many wine lovers view Australia’s massive and far-flung vinous culture as simply about big, full-throttle reds, all day long. Stereotypes do tend to die hard.

Henschke's famed Hill of Grace vineyard is the source of one of Australia's most iconic wines.

Pinot Noir and Chardonnay Stand Out

One of the great unknown stories for many wine geeks is the consistent high quality of the best Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from Victoria. The cool, ocean-influenced vineyards of the Mornington Peninsula and the more inland Yarra Valley, are home to a number of wineries that have been producing stunningly good wines for a few decades now. The bad news is that the word is getting out, and the best bottlings, which already enjoyed a strong local following, especially in Melbourne, are becoming more expensive and harder to find. Fans of taut, minerally Chardonnays and spicy, red-fruited and incisive Pinot Noirs will find the Yarra Valley to be a treasure trove. In addition, from personal experience, most examples of those varieties from the region age wonderfully.

Bright Spots on a Dim Horizon

In November 2020, China, Australia’s largest export wine market, slapped the country’s wines with new tariffs ranging from 116% to 218%, effective through 2026. To call that a severe blow to the industry is a drastic understatement. Producers, especially large entities whose business is based heavily on export, were forced to scramble and reset their business models by focusing on other markets, most notably the United States. So far that move has been for the most part successful. Exports to the U.S. of premium Australian wines, such as those reviewed here, have been slowly climbing and, perhaps most important to readers, American importers have become even more choosy than usual when it comes to maintaining or building their portfolios. While some of Australia’s very best wineries remain uninterested in export markets in general, an impressive and increasing number of the top producers’ wines are now available off the continent, even if in small quantity.