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 Regional Overview
Visiting Australia? Discover our main wine states and regions
Australian wine regions
Australia is a large country - Margaret River is further from the Hunter Valley than Jerez in Spain is from Tokaji in Hungary - so, despite the distinctive national approach to wine, Australian wines are not all the same. The wines of Margaret River and of the Hunter Valley differ as much as sherry and tokay do. The three most important wine-producing states are South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. As well as bulk production, they each have specific premium wine regions.
Read more about the wine regions of Australia here.
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REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT ARCHIVE |
Home : Regions : Australia : Victoria : Yarra Valley |
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| All articles on the Winepros Archive website are pre 2006 and are historical information only. |
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Yarra Valley
Region Summary
Location and Elevation
Port Phillip Zone
37°45'S, 145°22'E Lilydale
50-400 m
Subregions
Coldstream, Diamond Valley, Dixons Creek, Healesville, Hoddles Creek, Seville, Wandin, Woori Yallock, Yarra Glen and Yarra Junction. No application for registration of any of these subregions had been made as at March 2000.
Climate
Given the considerable variation in altitude, and the significance of aspect (ie north or south) on the many hillside vineyards, it is not surprising that there is substantial variation in climate. However, even the warmest sites are, comparatively speaking, cool; the MJT at Healesville is 19.4°C which is lower than at Bordeaux or Burgundy, but it has an aberrationally high heat summation (HDD) of 1490; that of the highest vineyards is not much over 1100. The principal viticultural problems are botrytis and downy mildew, both promoted by the cool and moderately humid climate, and which necessitate constant preventative spraying (chiefly with lime and sulphur). The other viticultural hazard is birds, which cause substantial crop losses in some years. Spring frost are not at all common, but the low summer rainfall does make drip irrigation from January to March highly desirable.
Statistics
Heat degree days: 1490
Sunshine hours per day: 7.4
Annual rainfall: 910 mm
Growing season rainfall: 400 mm
Mean January temperature: 19.4°C
Harvest: Early March-early May
Principal Grape Varieties
Chardonnay: 5016 tonnes
Sauvignon blanc: 859 tonnes
Riesling: 55 tonnes
Semillon: 66 tonnes
Other white: 260 tonnes
Total white: 6256 tonnes
Pinot noir: 2812 tonnes
Cabernet sauvignon: 2032 tonnes
Shiraz: 631 tonnes
Merlot: 539 tonnes
Pinot meunier: 158 tonnes
Other red: 84 tonnes
Total red: 6256 tonnes
(Australian Regional Grape Crush Survey)
by James Halliday
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