Victoria
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Heathcote
The Heathcote region, nestled between the Goulburn Valley and Bendigo regions is famous as a premium shiraz producing area. The region is acknowledged as one of Australia’s wine icons. Like many areas in central Victoria it was given over to sheep grazing in its earliest white history, followed by gold mining and then in the twentieth century wine production. The first vines appeared in the 1860s it was not until the 1960s that the real wave of development occurred. Heathcote has become recognised as a producer of extraordinary Shiraz wines. Although Heathcote is regarded as the equal, if not the greater of any other red wine region in Australia, the scarcity of its wines has left the district in relative obscurity. Its wines are perceived as exclusive, not only because of their extremely high quality, but because of the difficulty in obtaining them. This is changing with new plantings and new wineries coming on stream and the growing band of boutique Heathcote winemakers preparing to assert themselves upon the domestic and global markets. Whilst the Heathcote Region earned its name as a producer of shiraz, it is also gaining a well-earned reputation as a premium producer of other wines, including viogner, verdelho and marsanne. The town of Heathcote after which the wine region is named, is small having a population of about 3,500 – a far cry from the 35,000 at the height of the golden days. Still thriving and typically rural, it is nestled in a picturesque bush landscape. It is situated on the Northern Highway 120 km north of Melbourne, an easy one and half hours drive. Sited on the banks of McIvor Creek, the town was first named McIvor after a gold prospector who arrived there in 1853, Heathcote prospered during the 1850s to 1860s but declining gold discoveries caused the population to wane by the 1880s. Both the climate and soils of this region are strongly influenced by the Mt Camel Range which runs from Corop in the north to Tooborac in the south, providing natural tunneling for the prevailing cool south to south-east winds that blow throughout the growing period from October to March. The result is summer temperatures that are two to three degrees lower than the peaks for nearby Bendigo, and a cooler mean January temperature. Rainfall is surprisingly evenly spread during the year and, thanks to the hillside location of most of the vineyards, spring frost is seldom a problem. While there is, as usual, significant soil variation in the region, the slopes of the Mt Camel Range comprise a superb red soil with fine structure overlying uniformly textured red calcareous sodic clay soils. Confusingly for laymen, these soils are known as Cambrian Greenstones and in their local manifestation as the Heathcote Greenstone Belt.
Wine Varieties
Shiraz
The sheer dominance of the plantings tells part, but not all, of the story. The style of Shiraz varies significantly across the length and breadth of Australia, and it would be foolish to suggest that any one style is better than all others. However, few would argue with the proposition that the conjunction of climate and soil here produces world-class Shiraz with a unique character. It is deep, rich and velvety with cascades of dark cherry plum and sweetly spicy fruit, with ripe but fine tannins giving texture and sustaining length. It is hardly necessary to add that such wines age superbly. Indeed, the end point is yet to be determined, given that most of the wineries date from the mid 1970’s, and many of the Shiraz plantings are less than 20 years old.
Joining forces with Shiraz in proving--if proof be needed--that this is first and last red wine country, the Cabernet Sauvignon style is rich and generous, with blackberry aromatics and flavours, without any hint of the herbaceous. Some of the Central Victorian eucalypt-mint character can make its presence felt in some vintages. Merlot, the third most important variety, is very much a handmaiden to Cabernet Sauvignon, rather than a varietal in its own right.