Western Victoria">Victoria is a viticultural zone located, rather obviously, in the western half of Victoria, in eastern Australia. To be more accurate, and to fit more completely with its Northern neighbor, North West Victoria, the zone is better described as South West Victoria. The zone's finer viticultural land is located away from the coastline on the northern edge of the zone, where the Henty, Grampians and Pyrenees wine regions are located.
The Western Victoria zone encompasses the historic cities of Ballarat and Ararat, with their traditional streets of Victorian buildings which tell of the region's gold-mining history.
To the west are the jagged peaks of the Grampians National Park, while to the north lie the gentler slopes of the misleadingly-named Pyrenees.
South and west of Ballarat are expansive coastal plains, which reach right to the Southern Ocean coastline. They culminate in the Great Otway National Park and the Otway Ranges, which lead up to the southern edge of Long">Geelong. This southern end of the zone experiences lower temperatures and higher rainfall than almost any Part of Victoria, and is not known for its wineries.
The northern part of the zone, however, has a warmer, drier Climate and has long proved itself as a wine-producing area with production dating back to the 1850s.
The long-established western Victorian vineyards of Seppelt and Best's have been joined in recent decades by a New raft of boutique wineries, nearly all producing cool climate styles as this is one of Australia's coldest viticultural zones. Sparkling wine has been a major specialty for the zone. It was in the Grampians' Great Western sub-region that the iconic sparkling Shiraz wine style was first developed back in the 1890s.
Pinot noir is an important red grape variety in Burgundy and Champagne, and its reputation is well known! Great wines such as the Domaine de la Romanée Conti elaborate their wines from this famous grape variety, and make it a great variety. When properly vinified, pinot noit produces red wines of great finesse, with a wide range of aromas depending on its advancement (fruit, undergrowth, leather). it is also the only red grape variety authorized in Alsace. Pinot Noir is not easily cultivated beyond our borders, although it has enjoyed some success in Oregon, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
red wines from the region of Western Victoria go well with generally quite well with dishes of beef, lamb or game (deer, venison) such as recipes of cataplana with seafood, lamb with masalé sauce and rice or rabbit in foil.
On the nose in the region of Western Victoria often reveals types of flavors of cream, menthol or cola and sometimes also flavors of cedar, savory or non oak. In the mouth in the region of Western Victoria is a powerful with a nice balance between acidity and tannins.
Australia’s Giant Steps said that Melanie Chester joined the winery as head of winemaking and viticulture on 25 November. It marks a new chapter for one of the leading wineries in Yarra Valley, Victoria. Steve Flamsteed, who joined Giant Steps as chief winemaker in 2003, will step back from the cellar – although he is expected to continue working closely with the team. Working alongside winery founder Phil Sexton, Flamsteed has played a major role in developing Giant Steps’ reputation for excell ...
The largest-ever year for entries, an incredible 18,244 wines were judged at the 2022 Decanter World Wine Awards – with just 163 wines awarded a Platinum medal. ‘Winning a Platinum medal is something really exceptional’ said Decanter World Wine Awards Co-Chair Sarah Jane Evans MW. ‘Platinum is like the stratospheric level’ she commented, ‘so it’s really saying to the winemaker: this is a great wine.’ Making up just 0.87% of the total wines tasted at the 2022 c ...
When I started my nomadic winemaking project, in 2018 at Niepoort Vinhos in Portugal’s Douro region, I had no idea how large a part Spain would go on to play – I certainly never intended to make it the locus of my project. So how did it happen? Yes, there was an element of chance and taking opportunities where they arose. But also, among the talented winemakers to whom I pitched collaborations, I sensed an openness and a readiness to collaborate which seemed particular to Spain. Held in June las ...
