The Yarra Valley, an hour to the north east of the Melbourne CBD, is home to some of the biggest brands in the Australian wine industry and is believed to be Victoria\u2019s oldest wine growing district. The first vines were reportedly planted in the Yarra in 1838 on a property that is today known as \u201cChateau Yering\u201d. The region benefited from the Victorian Goldrush through the 1850\u2019s and by the 1860\u2019s viticulture was spreading through the district. There was a brief hiatus when demand for fortified wines surged through the early 20th century, but by the late 1960\u2019s plantings began to increase once more and today, the Valley is home to wineries like De Bortoli, St Huberts, Yarra Yering and Coldstream Hills. So in yet another selfless act of altruism, and entirely for the benefit of dedicated readers of this column (both of them!), I recently decided to take a day trip with friends and find out for myself what all of the hype was about!<\/p>\n
Locals claim that the Yarra Valley is Australia\u2019s premier cold climate wine region, but on the day of our early November visit, the Melbourne CBD had only been able to push the mercury to about 7 degrees overnight, so I suspect that the Yarra residents may well have spent the early hours searching for their thermals and Ugg boots. By the time we arrived at Tarrawarra for our first tasting at 11am, the sun had managed to find its way past the pestilent Cumulonimbus that clung to the Valley Walls like a ten year old with an iPad (yes Ashton, I\u2019m talking about you!) though the Antarctic southerly breeze kept fleece lined jackets fully zipped. By midday and our arrival at Dominique Portet, the skies were clear and the walk to the cellar door was in a comparatively \u201cbalmy\u201d 13 degrees.<\/p>\n
If you enjoy lean and linear styles of wine, then the Dominique Portet wares may be ideal for your palate. Their recently released 2016 Origine Chardonnay ($45) fared very well at the James Halliday Chardonnay Challenge and was awarded 96\/100 points. It presents a delicious display of peach, nectarine and citrus across the palate but also finishes in a strawberry and cream bliss that persists despite the natural acidity of the juvenile fruit. The rest of the range wasn\u2019t really made in a commercial style as I couldn\u2019t help but feel that the whites were focussed on length and structure, rather than the fruit. Of their locally grown wines, the reds (including cabernet and merlot) were made in a Bordeaux style but were clinical and linear and the fruit seemed to me to have been bullied by the winemaking process to make it tighter and fitter than it wanted to be. Maybe a bit more petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc in the blend might have made the merlot and cabernet a bit more tempting to my taste buds?<\/p>\n
We didn\u2019t have to travel far for our next stop as the Rochford estate was less than a kilometre away. Rochford is one of the larger operations in the Yarra Valley, and has risen in prominence as a regular host of the \u201cDay on the Green\u201d events \u2013 this month it\u2019s Stevie Nicks and in December, you can see Human Nature, Kate Ceberano and even KC and the Sunshine Band! Their estate restaurant is first class, but it\u2019s the cellar door that we found particularly impressive. It wasn\u2019t just that the wines were a notch above what we had previously tasted, but that their moderate price points put them in a sensible bracket that gave them broad appeal.<\/p>\n
Our host at the cellar door was Kish; an enigmatic and charming (if not somewhat loquacious) fellow whose flamboyance was almost matched by his urban-edged eloquence. Our group loved the Reserve Chardonnay ($54 before discounts) from Rochford\u2019s Swallowfield vineyard, but it was the Reserve Single vineyard Pinot Noir ($64 prior to discounts) that had us searching for superlatives and Kish rattling off idioms. The 2016 \u201cTerre\u201d Pinot is made from local fruit and drinking beautifully despite its youth. The nose hints of violets and spice, but once on the palate plums, cherries and raspberry characters unfold in a balanced and proportional way and gracefully soften in a silky conclusion. As Kish says, \u201cthere\u2019s an iron fist behind the velvet glove\u201d with this one!<\/p>\n
If a dry style of red is your thing, the Rochford 2016 \u2018Val del Re\u201d Nebbiolo ($36) could tickle the taste buds. The delightful floral perfume on the nose of this one, belies the deeply tannic backbone of the wine that dominates the middle and emboldens through the finish. Sure, there are hints of red fruit in the middle, but the tannin could be overbearing to some. Kish saved some of his best to describe the dryness of the Nebbiolo as \u201cit\u2019s like being in the Sahara Desert with a camel walking on your tongue\u201d! And he\u2019s right. It\u2019s not a voluptuous \u201cdrink now\u201d style, and neither does it pretend to be.<\/p>\n
These days, many Yarra Valley winemakers are experimenting with new and exotic styles of wines. Some work, but others might struggle to become commercially viable. But after a long and self-sacrificing day of research, I can confidently recommend just about any of the chardonnay and pinot noir that are products of local fruit. The cabernet was variable, but worth trying as although we did encounter a few \u201csecond 11\u201d players, we also found a few, like the ones at Seville Hill, that might wear the baggy green one day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Yarra Valley, an hour to the north east of the Melbourne CBD, is home to some of the biggest brands in the Australian wine industry and is believed to be Victoria\u2019s oldest wine growing district. The first vines were reportedly planted in the Yarra in 1838 on a property that is today known as…
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