The Yarra Valley, about 50 km north-east of Melbourne, is one of Australia’s premier wine regions, and one of the country’s coldest viticultural zones. The regional champions are chardonnay and pinot noir, with cabernet and shiraz in more than able support. Aside from the vinous pedigree, the Yarra is also one of the best serviced wine regions for visitors, with a wealth of cellar doors and restaurants, and ample accommodation across the price spectrum.
History
With vines first planted in 1838 by the Ryrie brothers at Yering Station, the Yarra Valley is Victoria’s oldest winegrowing region, but there is a significant interruption to that history. Unlike regions like McLaren Vale and the Barossa, in South Australia, the Yarra Valley has no extant vines from the early plantings. In fact, the oldest vines in the Yarra date back to the 1960s. While many of Victoria’s vines succumbed to phylloxera (a tiny insect that destroys grapevines), it was not responsible for the demise and ultimate abandonment of viticulture in the Yarra.
While phylloxera is now unfortunately a problem in the valley, it was in fact economic factors and changing tastes that saw viticulture traded in for more lucrative farming pursuits, primarily grazing for dairy production. By the turn of the century there were around 400 hectares (largely grown by Yeringberg, Yering Station and St Huberts) planted to grapevines, but the industry was also in decline. The Australian palate was becoming more and more enamoured with fortified wines in the early 20th century, with table wines barely factoring. And the cool climate of the Yarra Valley certainly wasn’t cut out for fortified production, with warmer areas like Rutherglen, as well as the marquee regions of South Australian and New South Wales, being far more suitable.
That trend saw commercial farming essentially cease in 1921, when Yeringberg recorded its last harvest, and there were no documented vines in the valley by 1937. That nation-wide reliance on fortified styles was no doubt reflective of the tastes of the day, but it was also a more reliable method of production, as rudimentary winemaking facilities and often a lack of cool cellar facilities meant that oxidation and other spoilage issues abounded. With both improved methods and a shift in the zeitgeist, table wines started to wrestle back market share in 60s and 70s, ultimately reversing the trend.
It was in 1963 that Reg and Bertina Egan planted the first vines at Wantirna Estate, and the renaissance of the Yarra Valley had begun. The success of the Egans and the rise of table wine no doubt contributed to the clutch of now-iconic wineries that were founded (Seville Estate, Mount Mary, Yarra Yering), as well as revived (St Huberts and Yeringberg) over the next decade or so. That growth continued, with the likes of De Bortoli (the renamed Chateau Yarrinya), Domaine Chandon, Yering Station and Coldstream Hills making a splash, while the 90s saw a veritable boom, with 40-odd wineries founded.
Today, the number of established wineries in the Yarra well exceeds 100, with many more labels that source fruit and share winemaking facilities. Indeed, the Yarra is home to some of the most innovative producers in the country, reshaping what the valley is capable of. But innovation is not the sole domain of the mavericks, with some of the established players contributing just as meaningfully to colouring outside the lines. Case in point is the chardonnay and pinot noir revolution that started at De Bortoli in the early part of this century, with richer, fuller and more oak-laden styles traded in for elegance and transparency of making. That direction now suffuses the Yarra, and the De Bortoli alumni (Bill Downie, Timo Mayer, Dave Bicknell, Paul Bridgeman…) of the time have fanned out to influence the valley in quite extraordinary ways.
