Wines from Victoria [split from Ontario]

[Non Doctor]

(Note: This post was split from the Ontario board at: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/42274... -- The Chowhound Team).

"very few good wines emerge from the state of Victoria"

Utter NONSENSE! There are myriad excellent Victoria bottlings.

Nice review though, Oliver is a splendid server, he used to be at the Spoke Club.

[Food Tourist]

I have enjoyed wines from Yering Station, De Bortoli, Red Hill Estate, and a bit of Ten Minutes by Tractor and Balgownie, but in general, Non Doctor, don't you agree that Victorian vines are young and shiraz is not the best product? Like other young wine regions of the world, Victorians are getting in on the tourist action and opening wineries by the dozen. A wine tourist would certainly have to bypass a lot of bandwagons before finding the real deal. I mean, c'mon, Bendigo is a wine region? Anyway, LCBO definitely doesn't carry Red Hill or Ten Minutes and is pretty limited in its selection of the others. I wish we could get Black Noble here!

[Non Doctor]

Yes, you are right that it is tricky to find decent wines from Victoria, but it is widely recognised that the Yarra Valley (Victoria) argueably produces Australia's best Chards and Pinot Noirs.

Now... I wonder what was on the list at Colborne Lane...

I'll ask Robin today.

[Food Tourist]

This is what I love about Chowhound - that two people on opposite ends of the spectrum of wine knowledge can have a heated debate as equals!

In that vein, I'll venture to audaciously suggest that the best Chards (and whites in general) come from Margaret River region in WA...my favourite Chard, possibly of all time, is from Howard Park. (My second fave was from Legends in Beamsville which appears to be sold out completely!)

I do have a personal bias towards Yarra Valley since that is the closest wine region to my grandmother's house in Diamond Creek (Hurstbridge) area!

[estufarian]

My favourite Australian Chard (at reasonable cost) is the Voyager Estate (as you identify, from Margaret River). But I'm not convinced that this is true for the whole region. Also the WA Rieslings are good - but not (IMO) up to the standard of those from Edna or Clare Valley (the latter in particular).
Where WA (and Margaret River) excel - again for me and a bunch of others in a blind tasting a few years back - is with Cab Sauv. They seem to have more structure than the 'overripe' cabs from South Australia (in particular). I know that some areas (e.g. Coonawarra) are justly famous but they don't match as well with food - and as most of my drinking is done at (rather than under) the table, this is an important consideration. And that's why I can ignore the 'points' system so religiously (word chosen deliberately) followed by many buyers.
And I generally avoid Shiraz from WA - have to admit that my favourite versions do come from South Australia.

[Food Tourist]

I got the Voyager shiraz ($27) at the LCBO over Christmas and was sorely disappointed. However, if ever you get a chance to visit, Voyager's chef is the best in the MR region and possibly WA.

[estufarian]

I'm hoping to use Aeroplan miles - except to do that have to go via Pacific route. A very long trip!
At least you verified my long-held belief that WA doesn't make good shiraz. Now planning a comparison of 8 different South Australia Shiraz's to check out what's the better regions.

[estufarian]

EDIT: For clarification, this is a response to Non Doctor's 08:49 am post. The way the thread shows, this is not immediately apparent.

Not quite (IMO).
I think you may have missed the terroir by a few miles. My favourite Pinots come from Geelong, although I do like the Yarra Valley versions. But, particularly with food, Geelong wins for me. Still a win for Victoria though.
I'm more dubious on your Chardonnay claim. Because the grape is so susceptible to winemaker intervention, my thoughts are that the 'perfect' location for Chardonnay is at least contentious. I've had good (and bad) from 'all over'. As with Burgundy, I tend to "follow the producer" as the style seems to dominate the vineyard character.

[rich_ie]

Um....Isn't Victoria the home to perhaps Australia's greatest chardonnay (Giaconda) and up there with the worlds greatest fortified regions (Rutherglen).

Respectable wine country I would say without even having to bring the rest of the line up in....Can anybody resist a Heathcote Shiraz?

[Beach Chick]

Heathcote Shiraz has to be one of the best and I know I can't resist!
Good call!

[estufarian]

While there may be "myriad excellent Victoria bottlings" you won't find them at Colborne Lane! And rarely at LCBO either.

[Non Doctor]

Yes... you are right about the LCBO there estufarian... sometimes I forget just how lucky I am I suppose!