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 Gris is a grey grape variety mutated from Pinot Noir. It has its origins in Burgundy, where it is called pinot-beurot in reference to the colour of the grey robes worn by the monks of the region. Established in Alsace since the 17th century, pinot gris was called tokay until 2007. It is made up of bunches of small berries that vary in colour from pink to blue-grey. It is particularly well suited to the continental climate because it is resistant to the cold in winter and to spring frosts. This variety also likes dry limestone soils with plenty of sunshine in the summer. Pinot Gris is well suited to late harvesting or to the selection of noble grapes, depending on the year and the concentration of sugars in the berries. Pinot Gris wines are distinguished by their aromatic complexity of white fruits, mushrooms, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, etc., and their great finesse. In the Loire Valley, pinot gris is used in the Coteaux-d'Ancenis appellations. It gives dry or sweet wines with pear and peach aromas.
white wines from the region of Western Victoria go well with generally quite well with dishes of pork, shellfish or poultry such as recipes of pan-fried carrots, seafood risotto or scandinavian beef balls.
On the nose in the region of Western Victoria often reveals types of flavors of oaky, honey or lime and sometimes also flavors of apricot, pear or white peach. In the mouth in the region of Western Victoria is a powerful with a nice freshness.
R&B Distillers, operator of the Isle of Raasay Distillery, plans to open The Machrihanish Distillery at Dhurrie Farm, Machrihanish, as a ‘farm-to-bottle’ single malt distillery, along with a visitor centre and whisky club. The company aims to make Machrihanish a sustainable, net-zero distillery that uses no fossil fuels in its production, as well as using biological farming practices to create greater biodiversity on the adjacent farmland. Plans are expected to be finalised during 2022, with ...
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 ...
Last year, there was much mirth on wine Twitter about a particularly excruciating tasting note. You’re right. The wine trade needs to get out more. But still… this one was a beauty. It began well enough – really quite beautiful, in fact. But before long the imaginative descriptions were getting more ornate and strained. It moved from poetic to meaningless before finishing with a reference to Burnt Norton – the first of TS Eliot’s Four Quartets – that put it firmly in Private Eye magazine’s ...
