Victoria

Australia is the world's fifth-largest wine producer: around 146,000 hectares of vines, more than 100 grape varieties and 65 protected Geographical Indications, mostly in the cooler south-east and south-west of the continent. Shiraz leads with roughly a quarter of the vineyard area, followed by Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Wine history begins in 1788, when Captain Arthur Phillip brought vine cuttings from the Cape of Good Hope to Sydney; John Macarthur planted the first commercial vineyard around 1820, and German settlers shaped the Barossa Valley from the 1840s. Wine law is liberal: origin, vintage and variety on the label must each be at least 85 % true – beyond that, winemakers are largely free.

Victoria is the smallest mainland state but, with more than 20 wine regions, the most diverse – from Rutherglen's fortified wines to the cool Pinots of the Mornington Peninsula. At its centre lies the Yarra Valley, an hour's drive east of Melbourne: around 12,000 hectares, wine history back to the 1830s, a cool climate and soils from clay to gravel to volcanic rock. Pinot Noir is the speciality: red cherry, strawberry and raspberry, rose and violet notes, cinnamon and clove, silky texture and fine tannin. Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and sparkling wine complete the range. Yarra Yering, Giant Steps, Coldstream Hills, De Bortoli and Oakridge are among the defining producers; Domaine Chandon (Moët & Chandon) represents the region's sparkling tradition.