Wine in Victoria

Where did it all start..
Victoria's first vines were planted in Portland and the Yarra Valley in 1834, 50km from Melbourne. By 1890 Victoria was a main vine producing colony with 8,370 hectares of vines compared with the 3,250 hectares of New South Wales and 3,860 hectares of South Australia.

In 1875, Victorian vineyards were devestated by Phylloxera Vastatrix, forcing Victorian wine production to drop dramatically. Vineyards steadily disappeared for decades and by the 1850's only a few, including Chateux Tahbilk and Great Western, remained outside the Murray River.

The regeneration of Victorian production began in the 1960's with the rise in Australian interest in table wines. Vineyards were set up in historically important areas such as Bendigo, Yarra Valley, Ballarat and Geelong. Vines returned to Pyrenees, Monameel, Shepparton, Lilydale, Mornington and Gippsland districts which caused considerable excitement about the quality of their wines.

Since then, as Victorians, we have seen an enormous escalation in the number of quality wineries established in the past ten years and the industry is still gathering momentum. Never before has Victoria had so many quality wineries open to the public and many are producing the best wines of their type in the country.

Today, there are some 22 wine regions and over 440 wineries in Victoria, its temperate climate and rich soils providing the perfect conditions for premium quality grapes. The there are more wineries, styles and wine regions on offer than any other state in Australia. Expose yourself to something new....