Victoria really shows its range when it comes to Cabernet Sauvignon. Napa Valley, eat your heart out. The Cabernets that come from cooler regions in Victoria, such as the Yarra Valley or the always fun to say Strathbogie Ranges, show a lively character that is often missing in New World styles of Cabernet Sauvignon.
‘Swiss settlers were making wine here in the 1870s, and as early as 1838 in the case of Yering Station,’ says Sam Middleton of iconic producer Mount Mary. ‘Many of the original plantings in this period were Cabernet and other Bordeaux varieties. The Swiss Settlers did very well with these wines, receiving international acclaim, particularly in the UK. Somewhere in between 1870 and 1920, there was a swift and severe downturn in the industry, and every vineyard was ripped out and land returned to sheep grazing and other agricultural pursuits.’
The region’s wine reputation lay dormant until the 1960s and 70s, when it was rediscovered as a region capable of making premium wine. A new influx of wine brands pursued Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Says Middleton, ‘The fact that the reputation of the Valley was built on the back of world-class Cabernet and Bordeaux blends is often overlooked.’
Yarra Valley is one of Victoria’s coolest wine regions, where it is claimed that Australia’s first vineyard was planted in 1838. Credit: Wine Victoria.
A good spot for Cabernet
Cabernet has found a home in Victoria, owing to a complex set of variables, including latitude, elevation, coastal cooling and sunshine.
‘Despite being a smaller state, Victoria is one of the most diverse regions from a wine growing point of view,’ says Matt Fowles, proprietor at Fowles Wines. ‘The overarching point of difference within Victoria is that it is the coolest mainland state in Australia – many hundreds of kilometres south of the others. I think of it as a sunnier version of Bordeaux. There is a risk of growing Cabernet in cooler regions, showing green character, but Victoria is bathed in sunlight during vintage, so this rarely appears.’
What has emerged are Cabernets that hew towards balance and vibrance.
Fowles Winery in Victoria’s Strathbogie Ranges. Credit: Colin Page.
‘Stylistically, the Yarra Valley produces medium-weighted, elegant Cabernet blends,’ explains Sarah Crowe, the celebrated winemaker at Yarra Yering. ‘The climate plays a big part in ripe tannins without excessive fruit ripeness. The wines are very fine with soft tannins, an intersection of climate and variety. This also comes from respecting the vineyard when the fruit reaches the winery. We are trying not to stand in the way of the vineyard expression by being too heavy-handed in any winemaking style. We want to let the fruit expression shine the brightest.’
‘With the changes in climate we have witnessed in the Yarra Valley over the past 20-odd years,’ Middleton explains, ‘we believe that the quality of Cabernet from the Yarra is well placed to continue to get better and better over the coming decades.’
Victorian Cabernet offers wine drinkers a glorious wine evocative of the Old World in its restraint, with a glorious purity of New World fruit that remains light on its feet. Cabernet that’s as good as anywhere in the world, and in comparison to regions like Bordeaux and Napa Valley, it provides exceptional quality and elegance at a tremendous value, where those two things can seem incompatible.
Five Victorian Cabernet Sauvignons to try
Fowles, Upton Run Cabernet Sauvignon, Strathbogie Ranges, Victoria, 2018
From the Strathbogie Ranges comes a riper style of Cabernet that still holds a bright minty freshness. CEO Matt Fowles points out that the unique continental climate and soils result in ‘only small crops. In the case of Cabernet, it usually has very small berries. Handling the fruit gently is very important, so as not to extract too much tannin. All of this together ensures we make Cabernet with great intensity.’
Intense indeed, the palate is gregarious with bay leaf, eucalyptus and notes of roasted hatch peppers that play nicely with the taut dark berries and saline minerality. The palate is fresh with soaring acidity, framing salty mineral tones and gorgeous wild blue mountain fruits. Delicious.
Alc 14.6%
Dominique Portet, Yarra Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Yarra Valley, Victoria, 2018
96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot
A beautiful and elegant Cabernet Sauvignon from two Yarra Valley vineyards, the Coldstream and Steels Creek vineyards. Evocative of the Bordeaux family roots with a purity of fruit accented by a smoky exotic clove spice and wonderful savoury herbs, bay leaf and tart Montmorency cherries. The palate offers taut, early-season blackberries, and the crisp acidity carries through with layers of sweet spice and even a kiss of citrus.
The warm growing season of 2018 meant the wines showed a spectrum of dark fruit but the brilliance of winemaker Ben Portet shows deft balance here. The fruit is fully destemmed and the wine spends 14 months in 35% new French oak.
Alc 13.5%
DeBortoli Family Winemakers, Melba Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Yarra Valley, Victoria, 2018
A study in refinement, this single-vineyard Cabernet, only made in the best vintages from DeBortoli, shows the finesse and elegance of the Yarra Valley. The Melba Vineyard was planted in 1990 and is among the region’s crown jewels. The aromas are marked by elegant florals and savoury depth, with dried violets, anise and eucalyptus showing a playful grace. On the palate, ripe red fruits mingle with dusty minerality and mouthfuls of rose petals and clove. This wine shows an international pedigree. Rather than pure fruit, it brings a balance of minerality framed by a savoury edge, further demonstrating its appeal.
Alc 13.5%
Mount Mary, Quintet, Yarra Valley, Victoria, 2022
48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, 3% Malbec, 3% Petit Verdot
The Quintet is one of the true standard bearers of Bordeaux Varietal bottlings from the Valley. A wine of such elegance and grace from Mount Mary, established in 1971, is part of Victoria’s fine wine legacy. The 2022 vintage saw a deep reduction in yields owing to spring rains during bloom. From a blend of Bordeaux varieties all interplanted in the estate vineyard.
A masterclass in elegance and refinement, medium-bodied and bright. A Cabernet-based blend that reaches such great heights. Evocative notes of forest, mineral and pure red fruits. There is a refined tannic structure that alludes to a long ageability of this wine. Pure red and black fruits smack of freshness and a silken, sleek mouthfeel that speaks of radiant delicacy.
Alc 13.5%
Yarra Yering, Dry Red Wine No 1, Yarra Valley, Victoria, 2021
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 11% Malbec, 5% Petit Verdot
Perhaps the most iconic wine of the region when it comes to Cabernet-based blends is the Dry Red Wine No 1, from the uber talented Sarah Crowe and the old vines at Yarra Yering, planted in 1969 when the winery was established.
The aromatics alone make this wine perhaps the best Cabernet I’ve tasted in a year. Airy, forest-borne aromatics of pine and fir, accompanied by pure red and black berry fruits and just a whiff of smoked cedar. The palate is lithe, ethereal as mineral tones frame pure blue fruits, juicy black currant, sea salt, and pine sap jump out as do concentrated notes of pomegranate pulp. A pure delight that will only evolve in the bottle.
Alc 13.5%
