Mornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is a small region located an hour due south of Melbourne. Surrounded by Bass Strait, Port Phillip Bay and Western Port Bay, it is one of Australia’s true cool-climate maritime wine regions, The region experiences relatively high summer humidity and abundant sunshine hours, and enjoys plentiful rainfall during the key times of winter and spring. Thanks to a prolonged gentle autumn with limited disease pressure, grapes are able to ripen slowly developing outstanding fruit flavours, high natural acidity and fine tannins. Soils range from red volcanic in Red Hill, to sedimentary duplex yellow in Tuerong, to brown duplex in Merricks and sandier clay loom in Moorooduc. Though significantly more famous for it’s chardonnay and pinot noir, the region has received a cult following for pinot gris and shiraz. Producers like Quealy and Crittenden have been at the forefront of working with alternative varieties, particularly Italian.
Heathcote
The Heathcote region is located two hours north of Melbourne over the Great Dividing Range. Vineyards are planted between Tooborac in the south to Corop in the north, and the climate and soils are strongly influenced by the Mt Camel Range. This narrow stretch approximately 90km long provides a natural tunnel for the prevailing cool south to south-east winds that blow throughout the growing period from October to March. This results in slightly cooler summer temperatures than nearby Bendigo. The slopes of the Mt Camel Range comprise a superb red soil, with fine structure overlying uniformly textured red calcareous sodic clay soils. Heathcote can almost be split in half between the south and north, both in terms of micro-climates and also soil profiles. In the slightly cooler south the soils are a little browner and softer, and there is slightly higher rainfall. In the warmer and drier north the soils are an intense red colour, the famous ancient Pre-Cambrian soils.
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees region (not the one in Europe) is located roughly two hours north-west of Melbourne, and is in fact an extension of the Great Dividing Range that has such a profound influence on the state.. With areas of higher altitude and cool nights that help moderate daily temperatures, the region has the ability to produce a diverse range of complex yet elegant wines. Being located inland provides the opportunity for low midsummer relative humidity and substantial diurnal temperature ranges in spring and early summer. Relatively low humidity reduces the incidence of disease pressure resulting in less need chemical input and other interventionist forms of viticulture. The soils tend to be a mixture of heavy clay and quartz with some exposed schist on the ridges. The soils of the Pyrenees often have large amounts of gravel and may also contain red sandstone suitable for the development of rich, flavoursome red, white or sparkling wines.
Mildura (murray-Darling)
On the banks of the mighty Murray River sits Mildura; gateway to the North and the heart of the Murray-Darling Basin. This warm inland part of Australia became one of the focal points for agriculture - particularly grape growing - after it was irrigated in the late 19th Century, and it was promoted to migrants and returning servicemen after the Second World War. For many years it has been one of the biggest suppliers of bulk wine, much of which is exported, and comes from varieties long established in Australia like Chardonnay and Shiraz. More recently thanks to the commitment and hard work of families like the Chalmers, it has become an area embracing Mediterranean varieties (most notably Italian). The more consistent warm and sunny weather coupled with the rich soils makes this an ideal place for varieties that originate in Sicily and Puglia, but also can be perfect for various Lambrusco varieties which originate in Emilia-Romagna.
King Valley
The King Valley is located in Victoria’s North-East and is one of the most diverse cool-climate regions in the state. This diversity comes in many forms. From the more elevated southern end of the Valley which tends to be the coldest, to the lower northern end as the valley opens up, there is diversity of climate. As one of the largest producing regions in the state there are wineries and vineyards large and small, and a lot of fruit is sourced from the King Valley to blend with other regions. There is fabulous diversity in terms of soils, effected by altitude, slope and soil age. Possibly the biggest element of diversity is the families who have made this place their homes, with many Italian migrants settling here in the latter stages of last century, initially planting crops like tobacco but later converting to viticulture. This Italian heritage in some way explains why the King Valley is considered the home of Italian grape varieties, and is the largest producer of Prosecco in the country.