Heathcote Wine

Located north of Australia’s Great Dividing Range, 170 Kilometers inland from the Victoria coast in the region of Heathcote. Originally a gold mining and logging town Heathcote was populated by a diverse range of cultures and nationalities hoping to make their fortune in gold. Many became disillusioned with the lack of prosperity and turned t... read moreheir hand to exploiting the lands of the region, and the first vineyard was planted in the 1850’s.

With fairly mild summers, Heathcote benefits from the effects of cool winds blowing up from the south that are channeled through the valleys of the Mount Camal Range. This provides a longer growing season leading to slower ripening and a greater level of complexity in the grapes. The Mount Camal Range is a major influence on the climate of Heathcote, not only helping to cool by channeling the southern winds but also, the valley slopes provide a range of altitudes to plant on, with vineyards ranging between 160 and 380 metres above sea level. The other major factor determining the style of wine produced here is its ancient Cambrian red soils which are rich in minerals and have great capacity for retaining water, providing the vines with water throughout the growing season. Roots are also able to penetrate deep into the soil providing the vines with great anchorage. The soils have superb heat retaining properties too, storing heat throughout the day and radiating it into the evening, lengthening the ripening period, the resulting grapes are very ripe but small and concentrated. The wines produced are deep, almost inky in colour with powerful, dark fruit aromas, sweet spice, and velvety tannins. In their youth, the wines are full bodied and highly concentrated but develop pronounced aromas and flavours of stewed fruits, fig and prunes as they reach maturity.

Shiraz is very much the most predominately planted variety followed by Cabernet Sauvignon. Shiraz is well at home in this hot climate and creates full bodied wines that are velvety in texture and characterised by fleshy, plum fruits and sweet spice. Cabernet Sauvignon is rich with flavours of blackberry and blackcurrant that express aromas of eucalyptus in cooler vintages. White Rhone varieties grow well here, Viognier and Roussanne are very well suited to the warm conditions and long sunshine hours, the cooling southern winds helping to preserve the acidity that is vital in keeping the whites fresh.

Although Heathcote wine production had existed since the mid 1800’s, it wasn’t until the 1990’s that this region really took its place on the world stage. Championed by several influential wine writers, Heathcote’s reputation really took off with the emergence of small, family run wineries who started with just producing wine for their friends and family, but took the next step into commercial wine production. When Robert Parker awarded a tiny, unknown, family producer 99 points for one of their wines, almost overnight they were catapulted onto the center stage and Wild Duck Creek’s Muck Duck has now become a legend of the wine world.