Family Matters (Victoria Wines, Part 2)
Welcome to Part 2 (you can check out Part 1 here) of my 3-parter feature on the wines of Victoria, Australia—an area rich in small animals that can quickly kill you (like the box jellyfish, blue-ringed octopus, and redback spider… hell, even the magpies are dangerous there.
But it’s also home to a diverse an important wine scene, presumably because drinking helps one deal with carrying the mental burden of the threat of being bitten by highly venomous animals. In Part 1 of this Victoria-focused coverage, we showed some numbers underscoring Victoria’s importance to the Aussie wine scene. Here are a few more:
As you can probably guess from those stats, Victoria has a lot of small wineries. While Victoria accounts for just 15{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} of Australia’s grape crush, it is home to 40{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} of its licensed producers. Many of those are family-run businesses, and those are the focus of the wines featured here today (part of an online media tasting I attended earlier in 2024). And on that note, let’s start sipping…
2022 Punt Road Pinot Gris, Yarra Valley, $25
Sourced from 4 plots in the Coldstream area of Yarra Valley, this white sees some skin contact, and barrel fermentation with wild yeasts. Yarra is a cooler, Mediterranean climate (and includes national parks and mountains areas that will, hopefully, never be planted under vine). Citrus, white flowers, spiced pear, white figs, and a bit of earth on the nose. Hot damn, the acidity is BANGING on the palate, with lemon zest, poached pears, and savory elements. The acidity is almost crunchy, it’s so palpable. There are too many food combinations that could go well with this than could be counted without the aid of supercomputers.
2023 Patrick Sullivan Chardonnay, South East Australia, $35
Patrick Sullivan, based in Gippsland (a wetter, cooler spot in the region), describes his site like this: “The things for me were, I had to have volcanic soils, the thing that really drew me was the minerality you got” from the grapes grown in the area. “We make them in tiny quantities, because that’s what’s there.” This white is a blend of hand-picked grapes grown on two different soil types, including chalk, limestone, and flint, as well as basalt and other volcanic elements. Toasted nuts, ripe lemons, blossom, and white peaches mark the nose, topped with ripe white figs and a bit of smoke and gunflint. The mouthfeel is excellent, quite fresh, very mineral, and citric, with the apricot and plump citrus fruit spinning around a tight mineral core like tethered balls around a pole.
2021 Silent Way Pinot Noir, Victoria, $30
Matt Harrop – winemaker
Silent Way was started in 2013 by Matt Harrop and his wife. “We have a pretty simple approach to the wines that we make,” Harrop noted; “wine is for the people and it’s a necessity of life. We’re just happy to grow some fruit, make some wine in a really simple way.” The fruit is sourced from two vineyards near the Macedon Ranges. “We’re fairly far south in the scheme of things. And most of our vineyards are at altitude. We get a massive diurnal temperature fluctuation,” Harrop said, and fewer heat spikes than Yarra, with a long growing season as a result. All of this makes it a nice spot for growing Pinot. “We get a really lovely, unforced expression of freshness and flavor.” What a nose: minty, herbal, spicy, brimming with red berries, leather, and rhubarb. Incredibly alive on the palate, this is equal parts elegant, assertive, poised, and delicious. With tea like tannins, gorgeous purity of fruit, and exceptional length, this is overachieving even at its premium-level SRP.
2019 Best’s Wines, Great Western ‘Bin 1’ Shiraz, Victoria, $25
Best was established in the 1800s, and has been under the auspices of just two families during its entire existencec. The vines they farm range from about 5 to just over 150 years in age. This red is a great mingling of Aussie Shiraz and cooler-climate Syrah styles, with cracked pepper, blackberry, wild raspberry, bramble, mint, perfume, and licorice all making appearances on the nose. The palate has a nicely plush, plummy feel, good freshness and floral lift, and hints of baking spices and funk on a long finish. You don’t feel the 14.5{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} abv, and in terms of aging potential this red is punching above its weight class on price.
2013 Castagna Un Segreto, Beechworth, $90
This red’s source vines are planted at 500m elevation, on granitic soils that date back 600 million years. It blends Shiraz (40{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a}) with Sangiovese (60{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a}), and for the record I did NOT see that coming. The nose is insane… Mint, eucalyptus, incense, cherry compote, white and black pepper, and spiced plums. The palate exhibits ample spices, intense florals, jaunty acidity, woody notes, and stern structure. There’s something decidedly Old World in the approach here, at least in the mouthfeel. The finish goes on for a veritable eternity. It’s got mature elements, but has barely broken a sweat in over ten years of bottle aging. Wow.
Cheers!
